Star Wars the Last Jedi Thoughts Part Two-What’s next in Episode 9? *Massive spoilers*

The Last Jedi is over, as well as 2/3rds of the new sequel trilogy.  However, Disney’s Star Wars movies are still far from over; as not only do we have the Han Solo spinoff film to go, but we also have an upcoming trilogy from Rian Johnson (although it’s unclear what shape it will take), many unannounced spin-off films (although according to many sources, “Kenobi” is almost a sure thing) and of course, the finale of this sequel trilogy, Episode 9.

But where do we go from here? At the end of “The Last Jedi”, the Resistance is pretty much down to a handful of people aboard the Millenium Falcon, and the First Order pretty much ruling the galaxy. Things haven’t been this bad since the Empire rose in “Revenge of the Sith”. Even “Empire’s” defeat was more of a personal one for the heroes;  while Han was frozen and Luke not only lost his hand but had his whole world turned upside down, the Rebel fleet, although without a base, was pretty much intact and gearing up for the battle in ROTJ.

 

Now? Not only has the resistance lost pretty much most of it’s command staff, but pretty much it’s entire fleet. The Millenium Falcon pretty much *is* the fleet.

Now, Leia still remains, but one of the biggest hurdles is that the actress, Carrie Fisher, died last year. According to Colin Tremorrow and some writers, Episode 9 was going to largely feature Carrie Fisher, with her perhaps playing a role in the defeat or redemption of her son, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. This makes a lot of sense when one considers the structure of the films so far; Episode 7 focused on Han, 8 on Luke, so logically Leia would close out the trilogy.

 

While there are still some OT characters around-C-3PO, R2-D2, Nien Numb….and Lando’s fate remains unresolved, they were mainly side characters and I can’t really see any taking over Leia’s intended role. It’s kind of unclear how 9 will handle the loss, perhaps explaining she died off-screen somehow (possibly as complications of her coma in 8?) or simply ignoring it, or saying she’s off doing something else, as some franchises do tend to do.

Although as far as the leadership of the Rebellion/resistance is concerned, Poe is definetly probably the candidate with Holdo and probably Leia now out of the picture. However, he has no real relationship to Kylo Ren apart from defying him at the beginning of TFA.

Although the resistance is pretty much in really bad shape, Luke’s example of standing up to the Walkers seems to have become a bit of a legend among the orphans of Canto Bight, as seen in the closing scene-and at least one has force ability. Not only could the legend of Skywalker help rebuild the Resistance somehow, but also the Jedi, as we see one youth use the force to summon a broom. In both the “Legends” EU and the new Disney canon, Luke’s destruction of the Death Star helped the Rebellion-another seemingly impossible feat-helped the Rebellion grow in the first place. As said by both Holdo and later, Poe, “We are the spark that will burn the First Order down.”

 

 

 

Speaking of the force, although Leia has the ability too of course, it’s possible Rey might be able to rally other force-users going forward, perhaps somehow rebuilding the Jedi-or something similar-in her own way, although it’s possible Luke, in a ghost form, will help.

 

There’s also the question of the sacred Jedi texts. At the end of the film, they’re actually spotted on board the Millenium Falcon, hinting that perhaps Leia (Or Chewbacca?) took the texts and all Yoda really burned down was an empty tree. Maybe they’ll have some role going forward?

Speaking of the Resistance, what about Finn and Rose? Rose of course is pretty much one of the new main characters, and it looks like romance will blossom between the two, although it’s unclear what their role in the resistance might be going forward. Perhaps they’ll help rally the citizens to oppose the first order, as Rose clearly has investment in how the citizens of the galaxy suffer under their rule? I actually wouldn’t mind both her and Finn perhaps taking over the ‘government’ part of the post-First order galaxy (if there is one) with Poe perhaps rebuilding the Republic navy and Rey, the Jedi.

 

Then there’s the First Order itself. Snoke and Phasma are dead, and the Galaxy is currently ruled by two rivals-Hux and Ren. Ren, in many ways, achieved what his grandfather didn’t. In both ROTS and ESB, Vader obviously has ambitions to eventually replace Palpatine and rule the Empire with first Padme (His wife) and later Luke (His son). Although Vader does of course eventually overthrow him, it’s at the cost of his own life and more of a selfless act to save his son than any actual ambition. Ren, overthrowing Snoke, properly takes his place with no fatal injury to himself, although like Luke and Padme, Rey refuses to be co-ruler.

Hux is in a bit of a weird place-it’s obvious he hates Ren and wants power for himself, (and possibly doesn’t believe Ren’s excuse about Snoke). While there’s hints of some friction between Vader and other Imperial commanders throughout the OT (and also in Rogue One), it’s not quite been at this level. Could First Order civil war be on the horizon?