ST Have I found the twist ending? (reposted)

"Now given the way that storytelling and psychology works I expect that the following may happen. The story will appear to mainly be about Ridley from the start but on retrospect you’ll realize that it was actually all Boyega’s story, when you think over the plot and themes (whatever those themes may be). Even this first trailer began with him—right as we heard the words, “There has been an awakening.” And Boyega is the key to this new Force power, this thing the villain is after."

Cinematic storytelling, particularly in the classical model that Star Wars films conform to, functions according to the plot moving along based on the protagonist(s)' choices. If Daisy Ridley is positioned as the protagonist from the start, and her choices are moving us through the story and determining the dramatic structure, I highly doubt that the film will suddenly drop her as a protagonist in favor of another character. More likely is the notion that the three heroes featured in the trailer - Boyega, Ridley, and Oscar Isaac - come together in the first act and follow a common path for a large portion of the film.

I agree, however, that Boyega is a valuable character. An easy guess would be that, as suggested, he's valuable because he is sensitive to the force. Another idea might be that, because of his role as a stormtrooper, he has some insider information regarding the "Empire's" new plot to finally win the war. Or maybe it's both! But his status as an object that the enemies are after doesn't necessarily make it "his movie," and it doesn't make him the (sole) protagonist.

I also agree that Daisy gets captured by the villains at some point. But again, just because she is a prisoner does not render her passive in the story. Whatever happens to her when she is taken prisoner, it will still be a test for her - she will still have an active role to play in her own narrative. Was Luke a passive prisoner when Darth Vader took him to the Emperor? Of course not, he redeemed his father, resisted the temptation to the dark side, and helped to destroy the Emperor.

Her being taken prisoner does create a clear third act, however, especially if she is taken to the same location where the more general evil plot is being staged. In that case, it would seem that all forces will converge on her location and we'll get a classic land, sea, and lightsaber finale.

 

I repeat that Ridley will not be passive and probably joins the fight at the end. This twist which everyone thinks, to my bafflement, I've not made clear is that she appears to be the main character and the key to this force awakening thing all throughout the film but bam! It's Boyega. The main character part is subtler and meant for you to realize in retrospect. A lot of what you said rings true. For instance a team will probably be at the heart of the story. Luke was the main character of IV: still a team.

 

Funny thing is, that's the opposite of what I've heard, which is that some the antagonists of the story are under the impression that Boyega is the one who is super powerful to the force, but it turns out to be Daisy Ridley.

But it seems like you may be talking, not about how the characters in the story react to him, but to the audience's perception of him.

I think that "the force awakening" isn't limited to one character, but to many. It may very well be referring to Boyega discovering his abilities, it may be referring to Daisy discovering hers. It could mean that Luke Skywalker has finally come out of hiding, and that the agents of the dark side are once again gathering strength.

 

What is the return of the Jedi?

We'll have to wait and see. You'll get no lavish promises of eating crow out of me. I'd be glad to see that little soccer ball robot be the evil mastermind, proving us all wrong. Metallo Jr.

Obama's on Colbert. Excuse me.

 

That's why I have often argued that Palpatine is actually the protagonist of the PT. All of the "good guys'" moves are in reaction to his choices.

 

From what we have heard about the story so far it appears that there are too many Force Sensitives for one plot. Given that Ridley is probably of Anakin's birthline and may (or may not) be well versed in Jedi skills then to have her just bump into a force sensitive deserting stormtrooper is one coincidence too far. Especially if it all happens due to Luke/Anakin's lightsabre being the binding force.

I can envision a squad of evil force sensitives - possibly including Driver as the Collector, Gleeson as the fallen Jedi and Christie as Countess Dooku - gathered together by an unseen leader, but can't see fate bringing Ridley and Boyega together. For my part Boyega is just a stormtrooper who rebelled against his commanders and owes Ridley his life.

 

I would agree in a sense, but disagree in a larger sense.

I agree Palpatine is the most active character in the PT films - maybe the only truly active character, tbh - but he's not the agent by whose choices the plot transitions from act one to two, or from one sequence to the next. And, of course, he's not our guide through the world or our point of empathy for the emotional beats of the story, which are other qualities a protagonist must have.

A good villain is someone who, if you flip the story around, could potentially be the protagonist in their own narrative. Palpatine fits the mold of an excellent villain, but he's not the protagonist. He just appears to be one in the absence of a strong protagonist in the PT.

 

Yes, I have always suspected that is one of the reasons people dislike the PT - the strongest story is that of Palpatine but he is backgrounded in an attempt to keep his identity secret. Having said that, I would argue he is the protagonist in the sense that his quest for power drives the PT. No other character has a single quest over the three films. The only one who really comes close is Padme with her mish-mash of goals of tryin to save Naboo and then hold the Republic together and prevent war.

 

I'm kinda hoping that they move away from the whole "chosen one" motif from the prequels. Darth Vader was a better character when he was just a former jedi who turned evil. The whole child-murdering space jesus schtick was pretty ridiculous.

I really hope that there is just one clear protagonist this time to anchor the film. It makes no difference to me whether that means Boyega or Ridley's character, as long as it's one or the other and not both.

 

The chosen one era was brought to a conclusion in TROTJ new story new characters.

 

I hope you're right, because the "chosen one era" was retcon last time .

 

That's something else I've been meaning to raise. People have often said that they would dread seeing Anakin/Vader return as it would be a blatant cash-in by Disney and the character is emphatically dead, having redeemed himself in ROTJ. However, given the "virgin birth" parallel with Jesus, the idea of following this with a resurrection or second coming may not be entirely out ofthe question. What do people think of the idea of Anakin returning if it were in terms of paralleling the Biblical story?

 

NO! JUST NO!

 

I never said you were wrong or missing the point, i just offered an alternative interpretation of the image. Be it right or wrong, it is just speculation at this point and I for one enjoy this aspect of the forums. For this type of forum to work we need to have differing ideas and opinions or it become stale and uninteresting.

 

There's no point, and nothing gained by subverting our idea of protagonist like that. In fact, if we follow Ridley's character through the film and see the story through her eyes, we won't stop doing that just because she wasn't the Forcey one. Han Solo didn't suddenly become the main character in "Jedi" just because he was the one who got the girl. If it feels like her film it is her film. And if it doesn't it isn't.

 

I think whilst it's interesting to speculate, your conjecture seems more based on existing rumour than official Lucasfilm material. For example, there would be no way of knowing that JB is on the run from imperials (which I'm sure he is anyway) from the trailer or official info. alone. That conclusion can really only be drawn from existing rumours etc. etc. So I think you're using the trailer to back up speculation/rumour rather than forming speculation based only on 'officially leaked info or leaks'.

 

And on the third movie he resurrected

 

Big Trouble in Little China ftw

 

He already has returned. Even for the established means his return was out of the ordinary, as he didn't need to be trained in the technique. You don't just pop a Force ghost back into his evaporated/incinerated body.

It's interesting how no one seems to be discussing that video starwars.com put up soon after the initial announcement they were doing the film. I distinctly remember a montage video ending with a sequence on Anakin and some moment like Yoda saying, "Help you, he can." I never took this to refer to anything other than his ghost but it does look like some kind of hint. There was a smidgeon of talk back about this then and then it quickly died out. Why??

 

What if...there is no force?

Luke is really a cybernetic Ewok and Darth Vader is just the galaxy's idea of a decades long commercial for coffee.

 

I would walk out of the theatre

 

Out of all the wild speculation threads here, this is probably the best I've read, so congratulations for that. The part that you almost certainly got right is that Boyega and Ridley join up near the beginning of the film in Tatooine after some kind of shared disaster brings them together, and that they end up being pursued by the same party, a contingent of which is Mr. or Mrs. red flamesaber.

I hope, hope with all my heart, that they don't run into Han Solo in Mos Eisley who then helps them flee Tatooine in the Falcon. How pat and glib and lazy would that be? I can't bring myself to believe Abrams is that much of a hack, though he may be. I'm just going to reject that out of Han..d on the basis of pure optimism, despite the fact that there's a case to be made for it based on the teaser trailer.

 

Great analysis. However I'm still going with mine. Daisy is the offspring of Luke and Mon Mothma. The night of the Battle of Endor celebration, after Luke has burned Vader's body and talked to the force ghosts he is 'seduced' by the couger Mothma (I know, he could resist the seduction of Palpatine and the dark side, but not the firey red head). The next morning Luke is gone - gone to do the work of rebuilding the Jedi order. 9 months later, distraught, and unable to locate Luke, and unaware that Leia is his sister, she delivers a baby girl and goes to search for Luke's relatives on Tatooine. The only remaining relative she can find is a cyborg by the name of Owen Lars, who was seemingly left for dead after an imperial attack, but was revived and became more machine than man. The cyborg graciously offers to raise the young girl so that Mon Mothma can go about her Alliance business. At the end of the movie we learn that Owen Lars was in fact Annakins twin brother and has now raised 2 generations of Skywalker Jedi offspring. This would explain also why the red headed actress had her hair cut and donated to the Star Wars movie. Daisy will be a red head just like her momma by the end of the movie!

 

I actually considered japing, "Or maybe I'm just having some sort of X-Men flashback. Whatever it is..."