The full Skywalker saga is about to come to a close with Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker, but there is a lot to take in for the nine episode space opera epic, especially for younger fans or anyone new to the series, so here’s everything explained to help you to understand the last film and how everything strings together. Star Wars The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi set things up for an incredible culmination, however, there is a lot of history to take into account spanning the original three films and the prequel trilogy. Here’s a quick recap to set the scene and help you to understand the context of Episode IX followed by an explanation of the events that lead up to The Rise Of Skywalker.
AdvertisementEpisodes I – VI build up to Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker explained
The story all started with Luke Skywalker who was the son of Anakin Skywalker who had been prophesied to balance the force. However, during the prequel films Anakin Skywalker turned to the Darkside and became Emperor Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Vader.
Anakin had initially been immaculately conceived by the force and his mother Schmi and then went on to fall in love with Princess Padme. The two had a son called Luke and a daughter called Leia, but the twins were hidden from their father and his Emperor master after Anakin joined Palpatine on the Dark Side. Luke was sent to live with his Uncle Owen and Leia with Senator Bail and Queen Organa on Aderaan, which was subsequently destroyed by the Death Star.
To begin with Luke doesn’t know that Anakin/Darth Vader is his father, but during the Original trilogy he is told the truth by his dear old dad in one of the most well-known scenes in sci-fi history. He shuns both his father and the Emperor’s attempts to lure him over to the Dark Side, thanks to the help and support of Jedi knights Obi Won Kenobi and Yoda in life and later as Force spirits after their deaths.
He sets out to stop the Empire, putting him firmly in the path of Darth Vader. In the final battle Anakin gets a twinge of fatherly emotion and turns on the Emperor, throwing him over a balcony and supposedly killing him. In so doing, he saved Luke and balanced the force, but was killed himself, leaving Luke to forge a new legacy for the family.
Episode VII and VIII build up to Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker
The Jedi legacy that Luke set out to create didn’t go particularly well, sadly. Episode VII sees the rise of a new threat to the Galaxy with the First Order taking over the Emperor’s old mantle.
AdvertisementRey is the new hero for the final Star Wars trilogy, which is about to come to a close with The Rise Of Skywalker. She’s a scavenger that was left mysteriously on the planet of Jakku with the promise that whoever it is that left her there would return.
She’s joined by Finn, a former Storm Trooper who somehow turns against his training and protocols to become a resistance fighter thanks to the help of pilot Poe Dameron. They all faced the sheer might of Lord Snoke, the supreme leader of the First Order, along with his Sith second Kylo Ren, who used to be known as Ben Solo – Han and Leia’s son.
It is eventually revealed that Ren turned to the Dark Side after seeing his Jedi master Luke standing over him with his lightsaber ready to strike. Luke had sensed the Sith potential in Ben and in a moment of indecision contemplated killing him in his sleep. Though Luke thought better of it, Ben woke in that moment, pushing him towards Snoke and the Dark Side.
While it isn’t clear what Rey’s link is to Luke Skywalker, she goes on to hunt him down following her initial battle with the First Order. The Rise Of Skywalker should fill in the gaps on this to explain whether or not the two are connected somehow. The fact that she sensed Luke’s lightsaber in Maz Kanata’s base on Takodana would imply that there is something yet to reveal itself, so we’ll have to see how this develops with Episode IX.
The fight against Snoke, Ren and the First Order continued in Star Wars The Last Jedi, although there remained a strange bond between Ray and Kylo, which according to Snoke was orchestrated by him. The two had been able to communicate with each other through the Force despite being light years apart.
On returning from Ahch-To following training with Luke, Rey goes on to be captured by Kylo and presented to Supreme Leader Snoke. When Ren is ordered to kill Rey he turns on his master, killing him instead, and offering Rey the chance to lead the Galaxy with him. Refusing, the two battle using the force to get control of Luke and Anakin’s lightsaber, but it splits in two before the two get separated when Snoke’s ship is rammed by Vice Admiral Holdo’s ship.
Kylo then continues as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order and Rey, Finn and Poe keep up the fight against him. Things come to a head on a planet called Crait and it looks like they’re going to lose to Kylo. The tide turns with the last minute appearance of Luke Skywalker alone and unarmed, which is enough to buy the Resistance time to escape and continue the fight in The Rise Of Skywalker.
All of Kylo Ren’s attention is firmly on finishing off Luke and he looks certain to strike the final blow, however, it turns out that his presence on Crait is merely a projection using the power of the Force. The effort of the Force projection is enough to kill Luke who joins Anakin, Obi Wan and Yoda as spirits that are one with the Force. The final scene of the previous film sees a child on Canto Bight using the Force and that’s where things end in the build up to Episode IX.
You can follow the official Star Wars Twitter page at https://twitter.com/starwars to see more on the buildup to the film.
Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker trailer explained
While the film hasn’t been released as of yet – it isn’t due until December 2019 – we still have a lot to go on in terms of explaining Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker thanks to the trailers that have arrived ahead of the release date.
AdvertisementThe biggest surprise is that the Emperor appears to be back in the mix with his trademark cackle, despite his apparent demise at the end of Episode VI. How this is going to come to be isn’t clear, but there are two likely scenarios with the first of these being that its just a ghost form Force presence similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and Luke for the light side of the Force. The other option is that Emperor Palpatine survived his fall and went into hiding, pulling the strings from the shadows and orchestrating a new plan to finish off the Skywalker legacy.
How this pans out will be the central principle to the exclamation for Episode IX and the culmination of all three trilogies, but there are more surprises from the trailer that still need to be explained. The first of these is the introduction of what looks like a new Dark Side character with similarities to Rey.
This could just be another vision version of her, as she experienced in The Force Awakens when she discovered Anakin’s lightsaber, or it could be a balanced Rey that combines both the Dark Side and the Light. Equally, it could well be a brand-new character somehow linked to Rey’s story, for example her long lost sister that could well be the character who is supposed to return to her on Jakku. There is the outside chance that it could even be Rey after she’s gone to the Dark Side, but this is highly unlikely considering everything that’s gone before it.
In addition to the Emperor and dark Rey, there’s also the presence of more Force empowered individuals that were shown at the end of Star Wars The Last Jedi. How these tie into the story and the potential future of the franchise will surely be explained in The Rise Of Skywalker, or at least heavily teased.
There’s also more to explain with the title of the last film in the series. With Luke dead and one with the Force, Leia is the only Skywalker left, and even then it’s not her given name, although Ren is also a blood relative to the line of succession. This leaves the question of who the rising Skywalker will be. Is it either of these two or is Rey actually Luke’s daughter, despite Kylo’s apparent revelation of ordinary origins after killing Snoke? We’ll have to wait for the Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker release date to come around to see how everything works out and we’ll update with more details as they arrive.
You can also visit the official Star Wars website at www.starwars.com to see more on the film.
