Now that I've seen The Force Awakens more than four times and have had some time to digest the movie, I think it's time to talk about some theories, speculations, predictions and inquires we may have about the movie (and franchise). Also note that not only have I seen all seven movies numerous times, I've also read tons of Star Wars Legends comics (previous known as the Expanded Universe), I have completed Clone Wars and I am caught up in Star Wars Rebels. All of which make up the current Star Wars canon so, possible spoilers for those, you've been warned.
If you've seen my review of Episode 7, you'll know that I really enjoyed it, though by no means was it perfect. I want to discuss some of the things I noticed and things I'm wondering about after having seen it so many times. One thing I've never liked about Star Wars is how inconsistent it is and how the power ranking/scaling is just as bad as your typical Shounen Jump manga. But I digress, let's jump right in.
How strong was Kylo Ren in actuality? Originally, I feel like a lot of us may have overestimated how powerful he truly was (not to say he was weak though). Kylo was trained by Luke for a bit and then Snoke. However, Luke isn't particularly a great Jedi, his Force sensitivity is off the charts, but he has very little formal training. This is a world that hasn't really seen any true Jedi for nearly 70 years. A lot of knowledge has been lost over the ages and I found that evident in the movie. Canonically, Luke hasn't preformed any incredible Force feats and his Lightsaber skills were sub-par at the end of Return of the Jedi. Even Phantom Menace Obi-Wan is a more capable duelist than Episode 6 Luke. So knowing that, I came to the conclusion that in a sense, since there are no Jedi to train him properly, there's no way he could have been a great Master. There's also so little people in the galaxy who have any Force training and those who do have to start from scratch.
So with that in mind, unless Snoke truly IS Darth Plagius, Snoke should be a new generation "Sith" as well ... meaning he also isn't trained the way we are used to seeing. Say what you will about the first 3 Episodes, but a lot of the Jedi are a lot more skilled with a Lightsaber than Luke ever was and anyone in Episode 7. Kylo Ren and Rey included. These Force sensitive people are strong but only in an era with no properly trained Force Users of any side. Comparatively, the potential is greater than it's ever been, but they are all unpolished.
If you've seen my review of Episode 7, you'll know that I really enjoyed it, though by no means was it perfect. I want to discuss some of the things I noticed and things I'm wondering about after having seen it so many times. One thing I've never liked about Star Wars is how inconsistent it is and how the power ranking/scaling is just as bad as your typical Shounen Jump manga. But I digress, let's jump right in.
How strong was Kylo Ren in actuality? Originally, I feel like a lot of us may have overestimated how powerful he truly was (not to say he was weak though). Kylo was trained by Luke for a bit and then Snoke. However, Luke isn't particularly a great Jedi, his Force sensitivity is off the charts, but he has very little formal training. This is a world that hasn't really seen any true Jedi for nearly 70 years. A lot of knowledge has been lost over the ages and I found that evident in the movie. Canonically, Luke hasn't preformed any incredible Force feats and his Lightsaber skills were sub-par at the end of Return of the Jedi. Even Phantom Menace Obi-Wan is a more capable duelist than Episode 6 Luke. So knowing that, I came to the conclusion that in a sense, since there are no Jedi to train him properly, there's no way he could have been a great Master. There's also so little people in the galaxy who have any Force training and those who do have to start from scratch.
So with that in mind, unless Snoke truly IS Darth Plagius, Snoke should be a new generation "Sith" as well ... meaning he also isn't trained the way we are used to seeing. Say what you will about the first 3 Episodes, but a lot of the Jedi are a lot more skilled with a Lightsaber than Luke ever was and anyone in Episode 7. Kylo Ren and Rey included. These Force sensitive people are strong but only in an era with no properly trained Force Users of any side. Comparatively, the potential is greater than it's ever been, but they are all unpolished.
Bringing it back to Ren, the first thing we see is his Force TK (Telekinesis) prowess. Able to hold a blaster shot in mid air for minutes, with only his mind while talking to other people. We see him sense something wrong with Finn, feel the presence of his father and even using Mind Probing. He even overwhelms Rey in almost every instance they met except twice. First of all, I believe Rey is stronger than Ren, there's little reason to believe otherwise. But Ren is much older and better trained so I was taken back those two times she overpowered him. Even though at the end, he was in emotional turmoil and wounded from Chewbacca and Finn, I thought he shouldn't have lost. There's arguments for both sides and even though shit like that just happens in Star Wars I thought of something. Who has Ren ever had to fight that was near or on his level? Sure, he can Mind Probe Poe, and Rey before she understood how strong she was but he's probably never had to face off versus someone as powerful as him.
Snoke even tells him, "even you, master of the Knights of Ren have never faced a task like this before". I believe he was not only talking about Han Solo, but Rey. If you watch the fight again, look at the moment Rey focuses, feels the Force and starts believing. Ren after tanking the first stab begins to doubt himself (afraid of not being Vader) and at that moment the battle was lost. He takes a frustrated, undisciplined swing at Rey, leaving him open. Undisciplined, disorderly and uncontrolled. Those things define Ren. Down to his Lightsaber which is crackling and looks like at anytime it might stop working, yet, menacing. Unlike Rey who is holding Luke's Saber that has a nice, confident, clean beam coming out from the base of the Lightsaber.
So how powerful is Rey? Is she too strong? Too perfect? She's a gifted pilot, competent fighter, mechanic, great shot with a blaster, extremely Force sensitive and was able to use the Jedi Mind Trick with no prior training. In a lot of ways, I see in her what Anakin should have been in the prequels. He should have had her natural talent, mixed with the multi-dimensional character depth of Kylo. But anyways ... On Jakku, Rey has become proficient with a staff but does that translate well into Lightsaber wielding? Should she have been able to beat Ren like that? Ren was clearly not as good as a duelist as he was with Force knowledge. Untrained sporadic swings, none of the seven forms present in his fighting style, even his tantrum swings are unclean.
It's not uncommon for a Force user to be better in one aspect than they are the other. Obi-Wan was a competent Force user but was much better with a Lightsaber than he was with Force knowledge. Anakin was balanced but thought himself to be much better with a Lightsaber than he actually he was. Later on when he became Vader, that would change. Dooku and Windu are praised to be some of the best duelist ever seen and Ahsoka Tano was very skilled with Lightsabers at a very young age. Her Force application was decent but her unconventional and duel wielding combat style was hard to best. We see proof of this when she easily beats two Inquisitors that Erza and Kanan couldn't beat. For those who don't know, Ahsoka was Anakin's Padawan.
Snoke even tells him, "even you, master of the Knights of Ren have never faced a task like this before". I believe he was not only talking about Han Solo, but Rey. If you watch the fight again, look at the moment Rey focuses, feels the Force and starts believing. Ren after tanking the first stab begins to doubt himself (afraid of not being Vader) and at that moment the battle was lost. He takes a frustrated, undisciplined swing at Rey, leaving him open. Undisciplined, disorderly and uncontrolled. Those things define Ren. Down to his Lightsaber which is crackling and looks like at anytime it might stop working, yet, menacing. Unlike Rey who is holding Luke's Saber that has a nice, confident, clean beam coming out from the base of the Lightsaber.
So how powerful is Rey? Is she too strong? Too perfect? She's a gifted pilot, competent fighter, mechanic, great shot with a blaster, extremely Force sensitive and was able to use the Jedi Mind Trick with no prior training. In a lot of ways, I see in her what Anakin should have been in the prequels. He should have had her natural talent, mixed with the multi-dimensional character depth of Kylo. But anyways ... On Jakku, Rey has become proficient with a staff but does that translate well into Lightsaber wielding? Should she have been able to beat Ren like that? Ren was clearly not as good as a duelist as he was with Force knowledge. Untrained sporadic swings, none of the seven forms present in his fighting style, even his tantrum swings are unclean.
It's not uncommon for a Force user to be better in one aspect than they are the other. Obi-Wan was a competent Force user but was much better with a Lightsaber than he was with Force knowledge. Anakin was balanced but thought himself to be much better with a Lightsaber than he actually he was. Later on when he became Vader, that would change. Dooku and Windu are praised to be some of the best duelist ever seen and Ahsoka Tano was very skilled with Lightsabers at a very young age. Her Force application was decent but her unconventional and duel wielding combat style was hard to best. We see proof of this when she easily beats two Inquisitors that Erza and Kanan couldn't beat. For those who don't know, Ahsoka was Anakin's Padawan.
Who is Supreme Leader Snoke? Where did he come from and how strong is he? Am I supposed to just accept that in the past 30 years, some new big bad became a Force monster and created the First Order? That's kind of a big pill to swallow and I hope they explain that in detail in the coming movies. Some people believe that Darth Plagius is the true identity of Snoke which isn't impossible but there really isn't any evidence for or against it. So I'll just leave it at that. However, it might make sense if this fan theory is true.
The identity of Rey is a big mystery in this movie. But the movie strongly alludes that she is Luke's daughter. Anakin's Lightsaber is almost like a family heirloom at this point. Obi-Wan passed it off to Luke and then the weapon called to Rey. Part of me wants to beleive that it is a Saber that only calls to those with Anakin's DNA. Maz Kanata also tells her that, the belonging she seeks in not in her past, but in her future. What does that mean? That the person or persons she's waiting for on Jakku are not coming back there and to find them, she must embrace her destiny and move forward. So while Luke is the obvious answer, I also think it makes the most sense. Luke was ultimately as strong or stronger than Anakin so it would make sense that Luke's kid is as strong or stronger than him.
Let's talk about Luke for a bit. What's up with him? Why did he rage quit and leave the galaxy in chaos? I have a bit of a theory. First of all, Luke was always a quitter. YES, your hero Luke often doubted himself in the original trilogy, so miss me with "that's not Luke, Luke wouldn't do that." He would and he has. He rejected his initial call to action but only went with Obi-Wan after his family was killed. He constantly doubts himself when training with Yoda, especially when he has to raise that ship out of the water. He then leaves before finishing his training, gets smoked by Vader and runs. This would be a different story in the Expanded Universe if Master Luke was canon but it is not.
I think it was too much for Luke to handle. He redeems his father and starts training Jedi, something he's not even qualified to do. I assume he had the Force Ghost of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan to consult at times but he was on his own. Now, your nephew turns to the Dark Side and with the Knights of Ren, murders everyone you were training. But that's not all, I beleive in the midst of all that, whoever Luke was romantically invovled with died as well. So he left it all behind and became the "strange old hermit" he once called "Ben Kenobi". It's also interesting to note that Ben Solo is essentially a combination of Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker from the EU while also being consistent with the fact that in the EU, lots of Luke's students get seduced by the Dark Side.
The identity of Rey is a big mystery in this movie. But the movie strongly alludes that she is Luke's daughter. Anakin's Lightsaber is almost like a family heirloom at this point. Obi-Wan passed it off to Luke and then the weapon called to Rey. Part of me wants to beleive that it is a Saber that only calls to those with Anakin's DNA. Maz Kanata also tells her that, the belonging she seeks in not in her past, but in her future. What does that mean? That the person or persons she's waiting for on Jakku are not coming back there and to find them, she must embrace her destiny and move forward. So while Luke is the obvious answer, I also think it makes the most sense. Luke was ultimately as strong or stronger than Anakin so it would make sense that Luke's kid is as strong or stronger than him.
Let's talk about Luke for a bit. What's up with him? Why did he rage quit and leave the galaxy in chaos? I have a bit of a theory. First of all, Luke was always a quitter. YES, your hero Luke often doubted himself in the original trilogy, so miss me with "that's not Luke, Luke wouldn't do that." He would and he has. He rejected his initial call to action but only went with Obi-Wan after his family was killed. He constantly doubts himself when training with Yoda, especially when he has to raise that ship out of the water. He then leaves before finishing his training, gets smoked by Vader and runs. This would be a different story in the Expanded Universe if Master Luke was canon but it is not.
I think it was too much for Luke to handle. He redeems his father and starts training Jedi, something he's not even qualified to do. I assume he had the Force Ghost of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan to consult at times but he was on his own. Now, your nephew turns to the Dark Side and with the Knights of Ren, murders everyone you were training. But that's not all, I beleive in the midst of all that, whoever Luke was romantically invovled with died as well. So he left it all behind and became the "strange old hermit" he once called "Ben Kenobi". It's also interesting to note that Ben Solo is essentially a combination of Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker from the EU while also being consistent with the fact that in the EU, lots of Luke's students get seduced by the Dark Side.
We've still got a lot of unanswered questions left like why Ren chose to construct his Lightsaber the way he did, what happened with Han and Leia and why/how Ben Solo got turned to the Dark Side. But now let's talk about what I hope to see. The Force Awakens played it safe, reestablished the franchise with the tone and feel we love. Time for something new. Deviate from the sequels, the prequels and become a brand new Star Wars story like no one's ever seen before. They've laid down the groundwork and now it's time to build off of the great foundation.
I'm not entirely sure where the story is going to go but, I hope to see a trained Rey and Ren. Ren needs to control himself better and learn from his defeat. Rey needs to tap into her latent powers and bring Luke back. Assuming Luke is even willing to train her. But I find that he probably will or else why leave a map to where you're hiding? I want to see some flashbacks about some of the events that have taken place in the last 30 years. I also want to know how strong Luke became and if he's fully realized his Force potential like he does in Star Wars Legends. Grandmaster Luke is broken.
I need more Poe x Finn bromance. Finn and Poe need to become the leading forces of the Rebellion and be the figure heads. Maybe Finn learns from Poe how to fly and maybe becomes a General. I'm a little sad he's not a Jedi but, I still love Finn and think he has a crucial role to play. Captain Phasma needs to redeem herself and not go the way of Jango or Boba Fett. Boba Fett has great feats in the cartoon and EU, but is the most overrated character from the original movies. He really didn't do much and I never understood why so many fans loved him.
Ultimately, the onslaught of Star Wars movies we have coming up has started off great. Episode 8, 9, Star War Rouges, the Boba Fett movie (I think) and the Han Solo movie. Hoping for greatness.
I'm not entirely sure where the story is going to go but, I hope to see a trained Rey and Ren. Ren needs to control himself better and learn from his defeat. Rey needs to tap into her latent powers and bring Luke back. Assuming Luke is even willing to train her. But I find that he probably will or else why leave a map to where you're hiding? I want to see some flashbacks about some of the events that have taken place in the last 30 years. I also want to know how strong Luke became and if he's fully realized his Force potential like he does in Star Wars Legends. Grandmaster Luke is broken.
I need more Poe x Finn bromance. Finn and Poe need to become the leading forces of the Rebellion and be the figure heads. Maybe Finn learns from Poe how to fly and maybe becomes a General. I'm a little sad he's not a Jedi but, I still love Finn and think he has a crucial role to play. Captain Phasma needs to redeem herself and not go the way of Jango or Boba Fett. Boba Fett has great feats in the cartoon and EU, but is the most overrated character from the original movies. He really didn't do much and I never understood why so many fans loved him.
Ultimately, the onslaught of Star Wars movies we have coming up has started off great. Episode 8, 9, Star War Rouges, the Boba Fett movie (I think) and the Han Solo movie. Hoping for greatness.