ST The ST: What Would You Change/Revise?

Wow guys, some of you have done some great in depth breakdowns. I can't promise my ideas will be as indepth as yours. A friend shared this idea me briefly.

So, my trilogy mirrors reality - the OT resembled WW II, the good guys won. The Emperor/Hilter was destroyed. There are a few systems loyal to the old ways, they don't resemble much of a threat so they are allowed to exist, however there are sancions in place and segregation - Berlin wall type situation. For a few decades, there is peace, but not unity. Luke has a temple, but its considered for historical context, the few Jedi that are, are kind of more into the study of the force than protecting peace. I cant think of a mcguffin for my Ep 7, but throughout it we are learning of a new guerilla threat with propaganda and "resistance" to the capitalist ways that are taking over which is emerging from the Sovietesque colonies. Through my ep 7, we are learning that the threat is serious, with a proper cliff hangar that an old threat has emerged - for me this is Plagueis.

Luke is caught off guard, his Jedi are not ready for something of this magnitude.

Episode 8 ends with Luke getting his butt kicked and most of his Jedi destroyed - enter Han Solo at the end of 8.

Episode 9 is a global conflict, with the decimation and surrender of commuism, Luke dies in sacrifice, Plageuis is defeated, in fact all of the Jedi and Sith are eradicated - Luke in an alergorical sense gives is life to save all, so by ending both sides - there is no need for there to be balance and an end to the millenium of conflict.

The conflict is not one army versus another, but rather the people rising up and realising they have the power, sure there are military aspects to it, we learn that war will not cease but the Soveit Unionesque entity is broken up. We have the emergence of a non- force sensitive hero.

 

I don't care if Kylo saves a spaceship full of orphans, puppies and kittens, he kills Han, a big portion of the audience is NEVER going to find him sympathetic, no matter how much his stans whine about "well, they've had two years to get over the Han Solo thing" or keep yammering about how Luke, Han and Leia wanted it and their deaths would be in vain if he doesn't get a happy ending with Rey.

The first thing I would revise in the ST is having Kylo as Han and Leia's child - make him someone else, and all this nonsense about his redemption would be more properly laughed off and consigned to his stans, instead of long time fans facing the real possibility that the guy who killed Luke and Han gets to come waltzing back to the Light and ride off into the sunset with the happy ending he stole from Luke, Han and Leia.

 

Oh, yes, exactly. I do, sadly, see way too much of "well, Anakin did this and HE got a redemption!" y'know, ignoring that he died moments later

 

Just a quick spit summary without any planning
Episode VII: The Darkness Rises

The New Republic is a completely stabilized government with Leia succeeding Mon Mothma as Chancellor, located on Coruscant. The Senate debates if the Republic should disband their Stormtrooper Corps, with the debate being that the stormtroopers represent too much imagery from the Empire while others want them to represent how the clone troopers did during the Old Republic. There is also shaky ground between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim,who are distrustful of the New Republic after the Old Republic became an Empire.

Coruscant is attacked by a massive wave of terrorist bombings by "The Red Hand," an shadowy organization lead by Snoke, an ancient darksider and enemy of the Skywalker bloodline, and the Knights of Ren. Han, Chewbacca, Lando, and new stormtrooper recruit Finn, help defend Coruscant from the terrorists. Meanwhile, Luke trains the New Jedi Order on Yavin IV with Ben Solo and Rey Skywalker as his best students. Ben is jealous of Rey, believing Luke only favors her because she is his daughter.

Leia contacts Luke to help find out more about "The Red Hand." Luke, Rey, Ben, and the remaining Jedi head to Corellia to investigate reports of a possible attack. There, the Jedi are ambushed by the Knights of Ren, and Ben is assumed killed in the fight. Luke, Rey, and the remaining Jedi escape and unite with the New Republic to defeat The Red Hand. Ben is corrupted by Snoke and becomes Kylo Ren, killing the leader of the Knights of Ren and becoming Snoke's second hand man. Kylo leads The Red Hand in the Mid Rim, trying to provoke the New Republic. The New Republic launches an offensive strike against The Red Hand's main HQ on an Outer Rim world. Rey, Luke, Han, and Leia encounter Kylo and beg him to come back to the light. Kylo refuses and a duel between Kylo and Luke begins. Meanwhile, Rey and Finn battle the Knights of Ren and Lando leads the main Republic fleet in orbit. Finn is found to be Force-Sensitive and Luke decides to recruit him to his New Jedi Order. In the end, the New Republic defeats The Red Hand, dissolving the organization, but Kylo and The Knights of Ren escape.

However, Snoke uses the attack on the Red Hand in the Outer Rim to finally steer rebellion that the New Republic is launching unwarranted military operations, and creates an alliance to start a massive war.

Episode VIII: The Republic's Last Stand

The Outer Rim Coalition has declared war on the New Republic. Snoke, a revolutionary figure to the fringe worlds, declares that the galaxy needs to be ruled by the oppressed and not the privileged and rich. Rey and Finn lead a mission on Zygerria to stop weapons being transported to Coalition forces. Meanwhile, Luke is on Korriban hunting down Kylo, who wants to find out more about Darth Vader's legacy. Luke kills several Knights of Ren but is gravely wounded in a duel with Kylo. Before Kylo can kill him, Han and Lando rescue him. Luke decides to confront Snoke on his own and heads to the Outer Rim. Luke and Snoke meet and Luke finds out Snoke was the first Jedi who became corrupted by the dark side. Snoke wants Kylo to learn about the legacy of the Chosen One, and convinced him that it was part of Anakin's legacy to become more powerful in the dark side. Luke finds himself overmatched and escapes to Ach-To. Luke begins to lose faith when he finds out that the first Jedi ever became a dark sider and questions the Skywalker legacy. Rey and Finn meanwhile must lead the remaining Jedi in the battle against the Coalition.

The Mid Rim planet of Teth becomes of importance to both the Republic and Coalition. Whoever takes control of that planet will have access to either the Core Worlds or the Outer Rim Worlds.

During the final battle on Teth, Han Solo uses the Millennium Falcon and crashes it into a major Coalition ship, sacrificing himself to save the others. Kylo and Rey duel as the cousins try to convince one another to join the other side. However, the Coalition overwhelms the New Republic with massive numbers and declares martial law in the Core Worlds until Chancellor Leia surrenders. Finn kills all the remaining Knights of Ren.

Luke, in the first Jedi Temple, talks to Anakin Skywalker about the legacy of the Skywalkers and motivates him to find Leia and bring order to the galaxy. Luke, Leia, Rey, Finn and Lando all reunite on a safe planet and embrace.

Episode IX: Redemption of The Skywalker

The Republic is in loose fragments as the Coalition has taken over the galaxy. Snoke and Kylo launch an attack on the Jedi Temple on Yavin to draw Luke out. Leia, Lando, Finn, Rey, and Luke work together to reunite the loose factions, which are fighting each other. During peace talks, Leia uses her negotiation skills to unite all the factions under the Galactic Alliance.

The Alliance strike back at the Coalition on Chandrila and Luke and Snoke face off one last time. Leia and Lando lead the Alliance fleet while Finn and the remaining Jedi lead Alliance ground troops to fight the Coalition. Rey and Kylo duel where Rey reluctantly kills Kylo, who refuses to join the light side. Rey then finds her father in a fight with Snoke. Luke defeats Snoke but refuses to kill an unarmed enemy. However, Snoke cheats and Luke is gravely wounded but is saved by the spirit of Anakin Skywalker, who kills Snoke. Luke is shocked but Anakin reveals his interference in the real world has come at a great cost. Anakin loses his ability to retain his ghost form and fades into the Force forever. Father and son say their final goodbyes as father and daughter reunite. Luke tells Rey to always remember that the legacy of the Skywalkers is hope as Luke fades into the Force and becomes a spirit alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda.

The Coalition surrenders on Coruscant and the Galactic Alliance comes back into power. Rey becomes the new leader of the Jedi Order with Finn becoming second-in-command. Leia decides not to punish the Outer Rim in order not to perpetuate the mistakes of galactic history.

Peace in the galaxy is achieved.

Done.

 

True. But I like the idea that centralists and decentralists are these factions. It is sort of odd that Gray calls them populists, especially since populists in history have both railed both for and against central government. Maybe she just coined them that out of a lack of a better term? You could call them decentralists or even confederates but that's even more of a loaded term. Think of Robert E. Leia.

 

Simply put, and I don’t mean to be insulting, I think the writers don’t really understand political philosophy and governance that well. Fine, it’s pulp fiction not political non-fiction. I just wish a little more thought went into it.

 

As far as changes to the ST after the ending of TFA, I would say that one of the most important potential changes relates to the internal chronology:

A. Having a sizeable time jump before the start of TLJ, or;
B. Having a sizeable time jump within TLJ, just after depicting the immediate aftermath of Rey's meeting with Luke.

Regarding the actual narrative of TLJ, I think a complete rewrite of the war story was necessary. The poorly thought out ship chase backdrop is replaced with a large scale military campaign waged by the vengeful New Republic against the insurgent First Order. After the time jump, Finn - unambiguously the deuteragonist of the film - is an active participant in this war as a soldier in the Republic Army, leading the counter-insurgency operations against his former comrades.

That's the premise, which I think could be a logical continuation of TFA. The story could go many different ways from this starting point.

 

This trilogy needed to show Kylo's fall if he was going to be redeemed. If he is not Han and Leia's son and redemption isn't the gaol, then we don't necessarily need to see his fall. But, if they attempt to redeem him in IX, then the entire ST will be a huge lost opportunity to show his rise, fall and redemption. Just a huge blown opportunity.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of Kylo being Han and Leia's son anyway. It's feels like a repeat and what purpose does it serve two films in?

 

I don't know if this has already been a topic so I'll presume that this thread may get merged with another.

Anyways, I thought I would make a thread based on what your idea of a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would be.

This is my version of the Sequel Trilogy, the characters and plot points are taken from Legends EU and the current sequel trilogy

Here we go:



STAR WARS

Episode: VII

BROTHERS OF DESTINY

With the demise of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, so too withered the Sith, along with the collapse of the Galactic Empire. The Imperial Navy was sacked into the Outer Rim Territories and out of the ashes of war a NEW REPUBLIC was born.

The legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was able to resurrect a new Jedi Order. Luke's elder son Cade was expelled from this Order for embracing the dark side and exacting revenge for the murder of his mother.

As an adult, Cade Skywalker with a price on his head, attempts to collect a bounty on the junkyard planet of JAKKU, where he will meet an ally that will draw him closer to his past and further toward his destiny....

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STAR WARS

Episode: VIII

RISE OF THE FIRST ORDER

Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his place his younger son Ben and his nephew Jacen leads the remaining Jedi to the Republic's victory over the scarce Imperial Remnant.

With the last known Imperial fleet dismantled, a new era of peace can reign throughout the galaxy once and for all.

The newly appointed Chancellor Leia Organa has arranged a galactic union address at the senate capital of Chandrila. The galaxy awaits her arrival as the Jedi sense a disturbing darkness in the Force....

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STAR WARS

Episode: IX

SHADOWS OF THE REPUBLIC

The galaxy is split in two. On one side governs the REPUBLIC controlling the Core Sector and neighboring colonies, on the other reigns the sinister FIRST ORDER ruling the Outer Rim and expanded regions with an iron fist.

With the Skywalker bloodline destroyed by Supreme Leader Kronossus and his apprentice Umbra Crevil, who continues to cloak his identity as Jedi Master Marek Sid, has gained great influence in the Republic Senate and works in the shadows of corruption.

Jedi Knight Kuno Vox, a war hero, loyal to the Jedi Order has been sent to Ord Mantell to confront the maniacal Zawk, leader of the mercenary faction GUAVIAN DEATH GANG, hired secretly by Crevil to infiltrate and assassinate key Republic officials....

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STAR WARS

Episode X: The Last Skywalker

After the signing of the Great Galactic Merger Treaty, the Republic masquerades in unity with the First Order with a curtain of deceit. Republic senators and representatives are now an oligarchical web engaging in massive payoffs and lucrative trade deals, all the while having First Order Operatives suppress the galaxy.

After the death of Omaga Kronossus, Kylo Ren became Supreme Leader of the First Order and is the true hidden ruler of the Republic, with Chancellor Ullyyssus as the public figure.

With the Jedi on the run, Ren’s enforcer Naga Tytanos leads a secret coalition to wipe out the remaining hidden Jedi and its RESISTANCE on Denon. Where the Jedi must fight their last stand….

 

Maybe the most important change I would make is to have Kylo be aged 17~19, not early 30's. TFA presents him as being much more adolescent than in TLJ imo, and it's better for it. A lot of people say he's "Anakin done right" in TLJ (which is wrong), but I think the better comparison is that in TFA, he is a dark inversion of ANH's Luke. Luke believed his father was good, and it inspired him to be good. Kylo believes his grandfather was evil, and it inspires him to be evil. It works better if he's just a kid. Not saying it would solve everything, but it would be an improvement.

 

The films never mention Kylo’s age. He looks like he could easily be a late teen/ young adult. So his actual age really has no bearing on the films at all.

 

It's pretty simple to understand his age as the movie was marketed as being 30 years after the Battle of Endor. I definitely don't think Driver passes for a teenager.

 

Yeah, but that's never addressed in the film. I'm sure 95% of audience members have no idea how old he is.

 

So, this is an interesting point. Technically, yes, you're correct, and you might know from other posts of mine that I've said ambiguity around details like age, time jumps, distance traveled etc. is important towards allowing the audience to fill in gaps in a manner that makes sense to them. So yes, I give them credit for that decision to not explicitly say his age is in the early thirties. However i think thjs is one of those rare situations where some specificity would improve things, because we're asked to accept some big drama from the character and it needs foundation. That being said, there are still some problems that I would fix.

1: When you have an early 30's actor playing the role, the initial assumption, absent new information will be that the character is similarly aged. TFA did a better job imo of making Driver (and Ridley) look and act young. His hair was fluffy-er, he had clear skin, even his juvenile outbursts all suggested a late teens imo. TLJ made his hair stringy, his face looked more weathered not just from the scar but from sweat and lighting, and his silhouette and physique were dramatically wider, not just in the bathroom scene but throughout. All of these changes are mistakes imo.

2: The flashbacks were an opportunity to show a "young Kylo" and I would have taken them. Again, this is an area that needs clarity, not ambiguity if we are to buy into Luke's narrative of events.

3: While the film's have not given Kylo an age the EU has, and it's bad imo. He is early 30's, and if I remember correctly, the temple massacre occurs only 6 years before TFA. But supposedly Snoke had already turned him evil . . . Which means he would have already been a secret darksider in his 20's. And that makes you wonder what exactly was going on at Luke's academy . . . And I believe this detail was added after TFA in preparation for TLJ, which seems to support its portrayal of Kylo.

 

I cannot tell you how many fics/metas I read with "Kylo was 15" after TFA and before Bloodline, based on Rey's age, implying that she had been left by Kylo/someone after the temple massacre. I thought it had been established somewhere and not someone's musing that got turned into fanon. When Bloodline implied that no, Han and Leia were NOT broken up before Kylo went bad and no, it was not 15 years ago but more like six, then the whole picture changes. But some fans insist on the original reading and Maker forbid that the movies actually cement any details down. I think LFL really thinks they can sell books, etc, for years on that period of time. I would beg to differ....

 

Yeah, I admit I haven't read Bloodline, but I've gone over summaries of it's key details and it appears to cement his age as early 30's. The only new EU book I read was the first Aftermath, which I didn't care for at all, and I haven't jumped back in. I'm interested in the Padme book though. She's one of my favorite characters

 

I agree and I was thinking about this a couple hours ago. The PT took care to distinguish Anakin's ages between AOTC and ROTS. Hayden is young looking (even still he has aged well) but the difference in hair style from his padawan cut to the shaggy locks in Ep 3 show at least a subtle progression in age.

 

I would just done the Thrawn trilogy except have it take place 30 years later. Obviously the Solo kids would be older and a major part of the story but other then that you would not had to change much IMHO.