ST The ST is an Inversion of the PT

I really like the OP, and other thoughtful posts in this thread.

I think at some point Kylo will wonder what he's really fighting for, and stop running from the light. Rey seems EXTREMELY resistant to forgive/join Kylo in VIII, though. Exile for a repentant Ben may tie everything up nicely.

I'm still not convinced he won't sacrifice himself, though, and it seems a more likely direction for J.J. to go. I'm imagining Kylo having a moment of realization about Vader's turn back to the light, refuting the discussion between Snoke and Kylo in TFA with this hypothetical line:
"It wasn't a moment of weakness. Love IS the strongest Force." (echoes of Rose) As corny as Rose's line was in TLJ, I would not be surprised at all if this kind of thing happens in IX (and I would be okay with it).

Whether Kylo sacrifices himself for Rey (delighting Reylo fans everywhere), for his family (Leia is supposedly in IX, or at least was), or in general to atone for past wrongs (Han, Lor San Tekka, etc), it would make a lot of sense to go this route. Some may say it's lazy, repetitive writing (something TFA had trouble with throughout), but it also would rhyme, allowing GL to become one with the Force in peace

 

If it hasn't been mentioned - the absence of love in a romantic relationship sort of way in the PT can be inverted in such that Kylo and Rey are meant to fall in love and change the GFFA for the better.
They chose Adam Driver who, to my knowledge and understanding - was well-suited for an angsty confused love sick puppy type of role. Hayden didn't seem to have that type of acting chops at that point. Could be a very intentional casting choice for that reason alone.
Then, if they do another Trilogy - it could be Rey and Ben going after the people / organization Snoke originated from -- similar to TOR and The Exile / Revan or whatever other analogy there is hunting down The True Sith equivalent in the NUCanon

I think it means that Ben would end up in Exile post-Ep 9 ---- although sure -- maybe the whole plan is that Snoke's family comes a-huntin' for revenge and Ben and Rey are the "only hope" and Rey has to convince Ben to come out of Exile by sending R2 with a mini-holo to Tattoine................

 

There all inversions of each other :

The first episode of each trilogy followed the exact same formula.....

 

Thought-provoking--I now hope Episode 9 ends with Ben Solo's Tatooine exile.

As you just visually referenced, the end of ROTS is a duel between best friends/brothers on a lava planet. By contrast, the first film in the ST has a duel between essentially strangers in the snow. Where Anakin is disembodied, maimed and burned to a crisp; Ben Solo is injured but nothing that can't be fixed.

In terms of the hero's journey: In TPM, Anakin is very eager to venture into the stars and become a Jedi (with some hesitation about leaving his mother). He has confidence in his own abilities and has foreseen himself becoming a powerful Jedi. Rey repeatedly refuses the call to adventure. She views herself as a nobody that must immediately return to her existence on Jakku. After emerging from her Force vision, she is terrified and wants nothing to do with it. This continues into TLJ where she spends most of the movie searching for the hero--Luke or Ben, rather than relying on herself. Compare that to Anakin in AOTC, where he already thinks that he is more advanced than Obi-Wan and is being held back. While Rey has nobody and is seeking attachment and belonging, Anakin's attachments to his mother and Padme pave the way to his fall. There could not be a more stark contrast between a child being called "the chosen one" and a woman who is told she is a nobody with no place in the story.

The QGJ role in TFA is largely Han Solo, and they could not be more far apart. QGJ being this intuitive Jedi, tapped deeply into the Force who is actively recruiting Anakin and seeing his potential and engineering a ploy to free him. Solo's first thought is to dump Finn and Rey at the next inhabitable system. He is unwilling at first but then persuaded to assist them by getting them a clean ship and then to assist with the SKB operation. Where QGJ is struck down by a mysterious Sith lord, Solo is taken out by his own conflicted son.

 

In the prequels, the Jedi Temple is a fortress at the center of the galactic capital, the Jedi Archives believed they chronicled all knowledge, the Jedi Council was central to the Republic's established order. In the sequels, the Jedi are all but wiped out with the remnants of the ancient religion on a small, secluded island in a hidden location. The only artifacts are a few volumes of ancient texts and the only remaining Jedi Master has deliberately avoided galactic affairs and shut himself from the Force. The visuals are striking between the shiny council chamber and the rocky ruin of the first temple. Yet, ironically, Luke Skywalker possesses far more wisdom than the clouded judgment of his forbearers.

 

The inversion similarities are quite striking. Thanks for starting this post!

If the end of Kylo Ren's story is to come in IX, I think what you mention here is one I could potentially get behind.

 

This one is more of a stretch but in AOTC, the Republic needs an army to counter the Separatists and they find one beyond on the outer rim on Kamino. Fortuitously, it turns the tide of the battle in their favor. In TLJ, the Resistance fleet is being picked off and they send an urgent distress call to allies in the Outer Rim. Initially, no one responds and certainly none of them arrive in time on Crait to turn the tide of the battle.

On Genonosis, an army of Jedi knights are unable to win the battle and only the clone intervention saves them. On Crait, the surviving Resistance is clearly outgunned and overpowered but a single Jedi (who is not even physically present) saves them.

 

I've been clamouring for a return to Tatooine, where it all began.

 

Oh yes, I agree. Full circle.

 

So Ben starts the trilogy in full Masked Costume and under the control of a Hideous Evil.

In TLJ he loses the mask, loses his master, but is still troubled and dark.

So, in The Phantom Isn't Menacing, he is reunited with his mother, builds a droid, and becomes a happy cleaning boy in a junkshop. And wins a podrace.

It's a surprisingly mild and happy conclusion to the 9 movie epic.

 

In my opinion, the duel between Kylo and Rey in TFA mirror already the ROTS duel on Mustafar. Snow vs Lava. There is similar shot. Both time, the Skywalker is the one to loose and is disfigured (Anakin far more than Kylo I admit) in the end.

 

Wow... That makes me realize how far the Jedi really strayed from their roots. It's no wonder that they slipped up and lost everything! They lost touch with nature and their own emotions at the same time, they were more spiritually lost than they ever realized. Perhaps all this tragedy happened for a reason. They needed to start over from scratch to remember their roots.

 

Yup. The Jedi became too dogmatic and they lost their spirituality.

 

Exercise for all that are intersted: Fly to Bethlehem and then visit the Vatican right afterwards

 

I concur. It appears they are just making it up as they go along. Unlike George Lucas' fantastic story arcs in both the OT and PT, as well as linking everything together in one big story (a saga about the Skywalkers), this appears chaotic ad hoc film making with no clear story.

It's like baking a cake. They haven't decided what type of cake they are going to make during the procedure to make it. And add and chop ingredients on the fly.

The PT had a clear story arc. The ST does not sadly. Still unsure what the Force is going on. Enjoyable films individually, but as Star Wars films and story wise, I feel so...helpless. (C3PO)

I wish once more that GL would rule this galaxy, and we would have... peace.

 

Kind of related...

The Comics / Novels / Rogue One have been diving head first into uncovering Ancient Jedi / Sith lore. TCW dug deeper into the mystical origins of the Force. Rebels has explored other cultures view of the Force.

Kylo wants to obliterate all of it.

So while on one hand we are learning all sorts of little snippets about the history of the Force in the GFFA... Kylo Ren is telling us to ignore and forget about it.

 

Wow. I'm not sure if this was deliberate, but I'm impressed!

 

I like aspects of this a lot. Most notably, I think you might be spot on about it being an inverse of power being given away in the PT and the people rising up in the ST.

I still feel like Rey is going to get the happy ending she wants at the end of IX but it will come only once she's become who she was meant to be without realizing her true ancestry. I still believe that she'll learn in the end that the junkers merely found her in a wreck and that she'll go on a post-victory montage of discovery moving from the wreck, to the manifest, to a new planet, to realizing one of her parents had the last name Kenobi) and that we will see her mother or father being born at the end of the Kenobi standalone movie without Obi-Wan knowing.

In this way it will also mirror the prequel trilogy. Ideally, around the people rising up in reverse as you predicted but also the grandchildren of Anakin and Obi-wan continuing this generational long duel of fate that started all those years ago.

 

Yippee!

 

Eff no. I'm constantly amazed by the obsession some people have that "everyone must be related to someone else!"

 

I would just love it if this much thought, planning and attention to detail had happened with the ST.... But sadly no. They are making the whole thing up as they go along. There is no thought, no planning, no detail and absolutely no world-building going in to any of this, much less concepts like making the ST an "inversion" of the PT.

I mean, it's possible IX will end up somewhere close to where you envision it... But if it does it'll happen by accident not because anyone has actually thought about it or planned it that way.

Sorry to be a downer.