Why the Star Wars sequel trilogy isn't working

Star Wars is one of my biggest influences as an author. If you’ve read my books, this should come as no surprise to you.

That being said, I must confess that I wasn’t too excited when I learned that George Lucas had sold all of his properties to Disney in late 2012, and that this would give us a new Star Wars trilogy, beginning in 2015 with the film we now know as Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The reason for my lack of enthusiasm had little to do with the idea that new Star Wars films would be made and released by Disney. My problem was with the whole notion of a sequel trilogy because of the way George Lucas wrapped everything up in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Anakin Skywalker brought Balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. His son Luke became a full-fledged Jedi Knight, helping his father to redeem himself in the process. Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa had a great conclusion to their love story. And they also helped the Rebel Alliance to topple the evil Galactic Empire, of course, restoring peace and freedom in the galaxy.

Back in 2005, when he was doing the rounds to promote Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas gave several interviews where he firmly stated that Star Wars was the story of Anakin Skywalker. He also said that there would be no sequel trilogy. You can find some of these interviews with George Lucas in YouTube or Google, if you like.

I was deeply disappointed when I learned of this. I was really hoping that George Lucas would do a 180 and turn Star Wars into a nine-episode saga, as he said that he intended to do, way back in 1980, when he was working on Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

About a couple of years after the release of Revenge of the Sith I started writing The Keeper of the Balance. This was my first attempt at writing a long, complex story, not so different to Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and many other fantasy/sci-fi works that I love. At least not so different in style and length, if not quality. That will always be up for my readers to decide.

As I gained experience as an author, I came to realize that George Lucas had done the right thing when he decided that there would be no Star Wars sequel trilogy. As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, the saga had come to a satisfying conclusion in Return of the Jedi.

In my opinion, Star Wars would've been better served if the new films had gone even farther into the past to explore the original conflict of Jedi vs. Sith which led to Episodes I to VI. The writer in me just didn’t really see too many options for the sequels to work without messing up Return of the Jedi’s “And they lived happily ever after” ending.

Our heroes celebrate their victory over the Empire on the forest moon of Endor

However, after I learned that George Lucas would remain onboard as creative consultant, and that the sequels would be based on his ideas and concepts, I became intrigued and excited again.

Unfortunately something happened between George Lucas and Lucasfilm at some point when The Force Awakens was in the film's early development stages, and most of his ideas for the sequel trilogy as a whole were discarded.

Just a few of George Lucas' general concepts seemed to have survived as a source of inspiration for the creative team behind this new trilogy (writers/directors J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote the script for The Force Awakens along with Abrams).

I obviously have no idea of what led to this fallout between George Lucas and his former company. I also don’t know the story that Lucas had in mind for the sequel trilogy or how far along he was in developing said story.

All I know is that if this wasn't handled right, it might come to affect the story of Star Wars as a whole, from Episode I to Episode VI. Because, as I’ve already said, this was a tall order for any creative writer. Even more so without George Lucas’ input. Sadly, I’ve come to find that my fears were not unfounded.

Anakin Skywalker was supposed to be the Chosen One because he was meant to bring Balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. To my understanding, the Sith’s use of the dark side was the reason behind this imbalance of the Force.

Well, Anakin did destroy the Sith, as we all know. But this clearly didn’t solve the problem, since this Snoke character seems to have been around since the Prequel Era, and he obviously is an extremely powerful Dark Lord (Sith or no). So, in effect, Anakin’s whole life and work was all for naught. Ditto for the Rebellion.

These freedom fighters gave their blood, sweat and tears to do the impossible: topple the seemingly invincible Galactic Empire. Yet now we have this First Order (commanded by Snoke in quite similar fashion to the way Palpatine ruled his Empire) coming from right out of nowhere to destroy the New Republic and to bring tyranny and oppression back to the galaxy.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe we’ve already seen all this before. In the prequels we had this sinister Dark Lord of the Sith elected Chancellor of the Republic and creating a galaxy-wide conflict (the Clone Wars) to take control of the the galaxy and to destroy the Jedi, the only warriors who could actually oppose him. As the result we got to meet the Empire and the Rebellion in the Original Trilogy, of course.

So, what else is new, aside from the names First Order and Resistance, that is? Let’s face it. We’re back to square one, with a mighty, evil, tyrannical force subduing the galaxy with nothing other than this small, ragtag collection of freedom fighters standing in their way.

As if this weren’t enough, the main heroes of the Original Trilogy have suffered dramatic regressions as characters, brought about by the fall of Leia’s and Han’s son, Ben Solo, to the dark side. Han has gone back to his smuggling, swindling, irresponsible ways, Leia’s lost her family and been forced to become military leader of a rebellion (again) and Luke . . . As Threepio would say: Oh, my, poor Master Luke!

An old, bitter, downtrodden Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

I’m sorry, but this isn’t good storytelling. This is telling a story just for the sake of telling a story (because, you know, most Star Wars fans wanted a sequel trilogy so, so, so bad). So far, the sequel trilogy has been filled with rehashed plot points, continuity errors, inconsistencies, and contradictions to all that came before these films.

The Last Jedi has been out for almost two months now, so I'm assuming you've already watched the film. If not, I must warn you that I'm dropping some big spoilers in the next few paragraphs. If you don't want to know anything about the film, you might as well stop reading from this point on.

Again, Snoke is a huge problem in this sense. Forget about not knowing the first thing about his background and origins when the guy died so suddenly and unexpectedly. The character should’ve never even existed in the first place. He was just there as a clone of Emperor Palpatine and as a device for Kylo Ren’s plot.

Now, I don’t mean to say that the Force would remain forever balanced after Anakin fulfilled his destiny. As long as Force-sensitives are around in the Galaxy Far, Far Away it stands to reason that a few of them would fall to the dark side here or there, eventually. But this isn’t the case with Snoke. His fall to the dark side clearly came long before Anakin restored Balance.

Think about it. If Snoke really was around since the Prequel Era, and if he truly was this powerful Dark-sider all this time, this means Anakin did not bring Balance back to the Force. I cannot stress this enough because, not unlike my own books, the struggle for Universal Balance is one of the main themes in the whole Star Wars saga.

The sinister and evil Snoke, Supreme Leader of the First Order.

Now, I’m just a modest storyteller with three books to my name, and a small but gratifying award for the last of those three books. I don’t pretend to know better than the creative team behind the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but wouldn’t it have been better to have Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side be the cause behind the new conflict?

After all, Ben isn’t so young anymore, his juvenile, emo, immature behavior notwithstanding. The guy must be pushing 30 by the time of The Force Awakens. If we compare him to good, old grandpa, or to Obi-Wan Kenobi, we find that Anakin was knighted in his early 20s and Obi-Wan received the title of Jedi Knight just a tad older, when he was in his mid-20s.

Ben is old enough to have become a full-fledged Jedi Knight with a few years to spare before falling to the dark side. He could’ve become the new Dark Lord in the galaxy (Sith Lord, Knight of Ren, or insert here any other dark side warrior’s title that you can think of) long before the start of the sequel trilogy. And more importantly, with no need for Snoke whatsoever.

As far as we know, Snoke and Kylo Ren are no Sith. The sequel trilogy has been consistent in this sense, at least. Therefore, there’s nothing Ben couldn’t have learned about the dark side on his own after his fall, or that he couldn’t lead those apprentices of Luke’s that joined him when he destroyed the new Jedi Temple, as the Knights of Ren.

Kylo Ren could have built a new Order of Dark-siders by gathering as much info on the Sith (and perhaps other Dark Side cults that may have existed in the galaxy) as he could. At the same time his powers, knowledge and experience would’ve continued growing, not unlike what happened with Luke after Return of the Jedi.

Besides, Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side could’ve come in many ways other than his uncle and master being partially or completely responsible for it. Love could’ve also done the trick for him (as it did with Anakin). Ben could’ve fallen in love with a fellow student at Luke’s new Jedi Temple, for instance, and lost his love interest tragically at some point, a few years prior to The Force Awakens.

The conflicted Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, in a scene from Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.

I mean, if we’re going to recycle/rehash some of George Lucas’ ideas and plot points, in my opinion this would be as valid as coming up with Death Star 3.0. Apparently, Mr. Abrams actually thought that this superweapon of mass destruction would be the most original thing, just because it happened to be 10 (or maybe even 100) times more powerful than Death Stars I and II combined.

Again, Ben Solo is old enough to have lived through many experiences and to have conducted at least a few dangerous missions as a Jedi by the time of The Force Awakens. The film was placed 30 some years after Return of the Jedi, for Force’s sake. Writing him as this whiny, immature, juvenile brat at his age in the Sequel Era, instead of being a Dark Lord in his prime with little need for a master, doesn't work.

I mean, seriously, this idea that Ben could’ve fallen due to losing someone he loved certainly doesn’t feel worse to me than making the new Jedi hero (man or woman the same) this outcast living in a desert world, with a great knack for mechanics and/or flying a spaceship, just like Anakin and Luke.

Since Anakin and Luke didn’t know how to use the Force consciously (no matter how powerful they might have been) when we first met them, I guess we’re supposed to believe that this is what makes Rey the Orphan Girl and Scavenger from Jakku different and original: She needs no training to master the Force!

Why, this makes poor Rey even worse than Starkiller Base (roll eyes) . . .

Okay, okay, enough with the sarcasm.

Rey is a Mary Sue. Snoke is a lame Palpatine wannabe and a cheap plot device to further Kylo’s plot. Luke is changed in his core values and beliefs. And this just doesn’t happen to people. Sure, we can all become bitter, angry, grumpy and cynical with age, especially if we’ve had a hard life, but our core values and beliefs always stay the same.

If this weren’t the case, Luke would’ve never been able to find the good in his father because there would’ve been nothing good left in him. Darth Vader would’ve consumed Anakin Skywalker whole, with him being mired in darkness for nearly a quarter of a century. Luke was able to help his father come back to the light side of the Force precisely because people’s core values and beliefs never change.

George Lucas worked closely with Joseph Campbell, the father of the now-famous Hero's Journey. Campbell worked closely with the no-less famous psychologist Carl Jung. And Jung claimed that we all have different sides to our personality, but the Self (our core values and beliefs) always stays the same.

I don't mean to say that Jung's theory is a universal truth that applies to everybody. But in Lucas' universe Anakin Skywalker remained the same person deep down inside, period. There was no reason whatsoever for his son to change so radically by the time of The Last Jedi, especially since Luke was always much stronger than his father and he never fell to the dark side.

These are the main themes in Star Wars: restoring the Balance of the Force; redemption based on love, core values and beliefs; experiencing growing pains and earning things through hard work (i.e. training for Jedi, Sith and/or any other kind of Force-users), as was clearly demonstrated by the six first films in the saga.

I see none of this in the sequel trilogy. What I see is an all-powerful Dark-sider who happened to go unnoticed for decades (if not centuries) to all other Force-users in the galaxy, not lifting a finger to pursue whatever he was after until it became convenient for the writers of the sequel trilogy.

What I see in the sequel trilogy is a powerful Force-user in his late 20s/early 30s, trained by the great Luke Skywalker (for years, presumably) behaving in the same exact manner as his grandfather did when Anakin was ten years younger than Ben Solo (or more). Age had nothing to do with Vader's inner conflict. His grandson should also be much more mature and grounded at this point in his life.

What I see in the sequel trilogy is this character come from out of nowhere, who just happens to be able to master the Force without breaking a sweat, only because we’re supposed to believe that Rey (again, whether the character is a man, a woman or an androgynous alien) has been written to be the most powerful Force-user the galaxy’s ever seen.

Rey, the powerful protagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

An author’s vision has to be respected, whether we agree with or not. The rules of a long-established fictional universe have to be observed at all times. Otherwise, suspension of disbelief goes out the window. And the rules that apply to the Force, the Dark Side and the Light, were established long before the Star Wars sequel trilogy was even supposed to be made.

If I don’t like a book or a film series, I simply move on, realizing that this thing is not for me. I agreed with and loved George Lucas’ vision. The new direction that Star Wars has taken? Eh, not so much.

So, if this is how I feel about this then why did I dedicate a full entry on my blog to this subject, you ask? Well, because Star Wars means a lot to me, just as it does to countless other people around the world. Also, because the sequel trilogy is simply not good storytelling, and as an author who takes his work seriously I felt compelled to speak out.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy was lacking in more ways than one, but it was execution that failed in those films. To the writer in me, George Lucas’ ideas about the rise of the Empire and the fall of the Republic, the purge of the Jedi and Anakin’s fall to the dark side, were brilliant. The story had heart and depth, and it was obviously true to Lucas’ vision because the films were made by George Lucas.

These new films, while visually spectacular, fast-paced, thrilling, and even funny (at times) are just window dressing in truth. There is no depth here, no soul, no concern for the lore, the mythology, and more importantly, the complex philosophy that lies behind the concept of the Force. It’s as simple as that.

This is why the Star Wars sequel trilogy doesn’t work for me. I have done my best to learn as much about the do’s and don’ts of storytelling, as I possibly can, just to tell the best story I can tell. And these new films feel like a slap to the face of any writer who tries to tell as good a story as he/she possibly can.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading this rant (laugh). Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this. Drop me a comment in the Contact section here on the site, so we can discuss it. I love to discuss/debate all things fantasy/sci-fi, and I definitely believe this subject offers some excellent food for thought.