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Saturday, March 7, 2020

Rey’s Father: Born of a Failed attempt by the Emperor to Clone Himself

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker originally featured a line confirming that the evil Emperor Palpatine was in fact a clone of the series’ original villain, according to actor Ian McDiarmid.

Kylo Ren says ‘You’re a clone.’ 
And the emperor said in that original script, ‘More than a clone. Less than a man.’ 

But it turns out Palpatine wasn’t the only clone kicking around, because Rey’s father was born of a failed attempt by the Emperor to clone a new vessel for himself.
After Palpatine’s apparent death in “Return of the Jedi,” he “thrust his consciousness” into a clone body but “the transfer was imperfect.” The Sith Eternal worked hard to produce a better vessel for Palpatine’s consciousness, but not all of these host bodies were successful.

One of the failed hosts was “useless” and “powerless” and “a not-quite-idenitcal clone” of the Sith Lord.
The clone body was not strong enough to host Palpatine. That failed clone would go on to father Rey.

“Dark Empire” even includes a secret Sith world that Palpatine kept in reserve.
Seemingly cut off from the rest of the empire: in the comic it’s called Byss, while in the film it’s Exegol.
Even his Final Order fleet, with its planet-destroying laser cannons, recalls a star destroyer in
“Dark Empire” that also has a superlaser — though one that can just destroy a planet’s surface, rather than the whole celestial body. That ship was called the Eclipse.
And it should be noted that Palpatine tried to transfer his soul into Leia’s unborn son, much as he tried to do with Rey.

And in his final defeat, in the comic titled “Empire’s End” all the Jedi that have ever been agree to keep Palpatine’s soul trapped in the Netherworld of the Force forever, so that he can return no more.

At the end of “The Rise of Skywalker” Rey says, in defeating the clone of her grandfather, “And I am all of the Jedi.”

Sunday, March 1, 2020

The Rise of Skywalker: KYLO REN RAMPAGES ON MUSTAFAR

THE STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER NOVELIZATION
– EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT THE DARK WARRIOR HUNTS FOR A WAYFINDER...AND FINDS SOMEONE UNEXPECTED.

The novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is no mere adaptation.
Written by Rae Carson, the book features expanded scenes and content not seen in theaters, as well as a few surprises — all culled from deleted scenes, never-before-seen material, and input from the filmmakers.
In StarWars.com’s exclusive excerpt, Kylo Ren tears through Mustafar hunting for a Sith artifact that could lead to Emperor Palpatine; but in a new sequence, he ultimately encounters a strange being protecting the desired device…

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Kylo Ren return to Darth Vader's planet Mustafar -
but you probably missed it. ... It's not obvious, but this fiery world is actually Mustafar;
the planet's recovery from the taint of the dark side is evident given that the lava flows have receded a little, and trees have begun to grow.

General Armitage Hux watched—from a safe distance—as Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and a squad of stormtroopers cut a swath of blood and destruction through the pathetic Mustafarian colonists.

They battled through the gloomy woods of Corvax Fen, one of the few patches on this hellscape of a lava planet that was cool enough to support native growth, if you could call this “growth.”
Barren trees grew out of a noxious marsh, and the air was hazy with mist.



The barbarian colonists were failing to put up a decent fight; their archaic halberds and broadswords were no match for the technical superiority of a good blaster, or even, Hux had to admit, a light­saber.
Corpses littered the ground, barely more than lumps of shadow in the gloom. The air smelled of ozone and scorched vegetation. All was eerily silent as Ren looked around, catching his breath. Even from a distance, Hux could sense his dis­appointment that the killing was over, that no outlet for his rage remained.


Kylo Ren gathered himself and strode away into the woods, shoulders set with determination, lightsaber still ablaze. The mysterious object he had come for—dragged all of them across the galaxy for—was nearly within his grasp.

“He’s gone mad,” General Hux said, and the contempt in his voice was obvious even to his own ears.
“Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy, and Ren chases a ghost.”

“No,” Allegiant General Pryde responded, softly but firmly. “Someone was behind that transmission. And Leader Ren will answer to no one.”

Hux narrowed his eyes. Ren would definitely answer to someone, someday. He just didn’t realize it yet.

Kylo Ren showed mercy to nothing and no one, but he had a grudging appreciation for things that struggled to survive. Even though the nearest lava flow was many klicks away, it seemed as though the air ought to be too hot, too chemical, for life to truly thrive here. As they’d landed, Hux had proclaimed the planet a “desolate hellscape,” and Kylo hadn’t bothered to correct him.

The truth was, Mustafar was teeming with life—all connected through the Force. Like those hapless cultists he’d just killed, who’d been obsessed with protecting Vader’s legacy.
Or this forest of twisted irontrees they endeavored to cultivate. Or even the extremophile organisms that swarmed the lava flows. All fragile but determined, mutilated but indomitable.
It was no wonder his grandfather has chosen this place for a home.


Kylo strode through the trees, lightsaber still ignited. Malevolence lay ahead, along with a darkness that had nothing to do with the planet’s day–night cycle. But that’s not why he kept his weapon ready.
He refused to put it away because for the briefest moment, as he was hacking away at Mustafarians, he had sensed her. Watching him. Now his guard was up, and it would stay up until he got what he came for.

By silent mutual agreement, the stormtroopers who’d accompanied him had declined to follow him through the woods, which suited him fine. He preferred to be alone for this.

A few more steps and the ground became soggy. The mist thickened. A small splash indicated that his presence had been noticed.
Finally, the trees broke open onto a small lake with brackish water, bordered on all sides by forest and large black lumps like boulders, jutting out of the ground at odd angles.


No, not boulders, he noted upon closer look, but rather fallen remnants of Darth Vader’s castle.
An oily film slicked across the lake’s still surface. But as Kylo approached, the water bubbled up in the center, sending tiny waves to lap at his boots.


A giant emerged, a hairless creature sheening with wetness, bits of lake detritus clinging to its pasty skin. Its eyes were squeezed shut, but it could still see after a fashion, because draped over its massive bald head and across one shoulder was a second creature with long spidery tentacles.
The two were locked in symbiosis. Kylo sensed the giant’s pain, as though it were a slave to the spidery being that clung to it. Yet neither could it survive alone.

The spider creature spoke. “I am the Eye of Webbish Bog. I know what you seek.”

“You will give it to me,” Kylo said.

The Eye cocked its head, making an eerie squealing noise.
It took a moment for Kylo to realize the creature was laughing at him. “No need for that,” the Eye said. “Do you really think my lord would have left it in the guardianship of one who could be swayed by a trick of the Force?”

No, he supposed not.

“You’ve been seeking it for a while, yes? I must warn you, our fiery planet burns away deception.
If you proceed down this path, you will encounter your true self.”

Kylo was growing impatient. He glared in silence.

“Fine,” the creature said, as though disappointed that Kylo would not indulge him in ceremony.
“In accordance with Lord Vader’s wishes, you have defeated my protectors and earned it. His way­finder.” The blind giant beneath the Eye raised its enormous hand from the water and pointed toward a small island in the lake. On it was a stone structure, like an altar.

Kylo turned off his lightsaber and hooked it to his belt. He waded into the shallow lake, soaking his boots and cloak. The water was warm, and the ground beneath the water a sludge that sucked at his feet. He ignored it all, reaching for a pyramidal object. It fit satisfyingly in his hand, heavy and hot, and he stared at it a moment, lost in its red glow. The sides were etched glass framed in deep-gray resin. The crimson light within seemed to pulse faintly. Ren had come a long way for this, and yet he hesitated, eyeing the pyramid with distrust.


“It will guide you through the Unknown Regions,” the Eye said. “To the hidden world of Exegol. To him.” Whoever he was.

The transmission purporting to be from Palpatine had reached the far corners of the galaxy.
Kylo had it memo­rized:

At last the work of generations is complete. The great error is corrected. 
They day of victory is at hand. The day of revenge. The day of the Sith.


He wasn’t sure what to believe about it, but it was a fair guess that Kylo wasn’t the only one seeking answers. Others would follow the same path and come to Mustafar sooner or later, looking for this exact object.

So surely his grandfather would have made it harder than this? Those cultists were too easy to kill. This creature too easy to convince. Then again, he was Vader’s heir. The object belonged to him.
Now that he had it up close, the etchings in the glass clarified into patterns. Star charts. Alignment markers.
Something stirred deep within him, suggesting ancient knowledge and power, and he felt a rush of triumph. It had all been worth it—diverting ships, sending out spies, tracing old records, enduring the smug disapproval of that idiot Hux—all to find this.

Kylo looked up, and was startled to discover that the Eye of Web­bish Bog was gone, slipped back beneath the surface of a lake so still it was as though nothing lived within it at all.
How long had he been staring at the pyramid?
Kylo Ren wasted no more time. Dried blood made the skin of his face itch, and his boots and cloak were soggy with lake water, but instead of returning to his command ship, the Steadfast, he dis­missed everyone back to their regular duties and jumped into his modified TIE whisper to make the next part of the journey alone. No one protested.

He connected the pyramid to his navi-computer, attaching ports where indicated by the glass etchings. The nav interface lit up with new information, but it also blared a warning.
For these coordinates would take him beyond the Western Reaches into the Unknown Regions.
Kylo overrode the warning and jumped his TIE to light-speed. The stars turned to streams of matter.

The Unknown Regions remained uncharted because a chaotic web of anomalies had created a near-impenetrable barrier to exploration; only the most foolhardy or desperate ventured there—criminals, refugees, and, if the reports were true, remnants of the old Imperial fleet who had refused to accept New Republic rule.
A few planets had been discovered, but their populations remained small, and their trade with the rest of the galaxy had been throttled by the navigational risk.
The Sith and the Jedi had found paths through to even more dangerous, more hidden worlds—or so legends said—and the specific, carefully stepped coordinate jumps required to safely navigate the anomalies were among their most closely guarded secrets.

The trip would be worth the risk. Someone was out there, claiming to be the Emperor himself, and Kylo could already sense ripples of doubt in the First Order. After all he’d done, after all he’d sacrificed to become Supreme Leader . . . who would dare to challenge him now?

Original post:
starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-novelization

Rise of Skywalker official book answers burning Palpatine question
An extract of the official Lucasfilm book that reveals Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in Episode IX is a clone of the actual Palpatine from the original Star Wars trilogy.

Kylo Ren makes the discovery after arriving on Exegol.
All the vials were empty of liquid save one, which was nearly depleted, the book reads.

Kylo peered closer. He’d seen this apparatus before, too, when he’d studied the Clone Wars as a boy. The liquid flowing into the living nightmare before him was fighting a losing battle to sustain the Emperor’s putrid flesh.
’What could you give me?’ Kylo asked. Emperor Palpatine lived, after a fashion, and Kylo could feel in his very bones that this clone body sheltered the Emperor’s actual spirit. It was an imperfect vessel, though, unable to contain his immense power. It couldn’t last much longer.


Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Emperor Reborn: The Expanded Universe

The Emperor Reborn: The Expanded Universe
Palpatine returned in the Dark Horse comic book series Dark Empire, written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy in 1991.
In the series (set six years after Return of the Jedi), Palpatine is resurrected as the Emperor Reborn or “Palpatine the Undying.”
His spirit returns from the netherworld of the Force and possesses the body of Jeng Droga, one of the Emperor’s Hands, a group of elite assassins not unlike the Knights of Ren or Snoke’s Praetorian Guard in the Sequel Trilogy.


Then things get really wild. Sate Pestage, one of the Emperor’s advisors, exorcizes Palpatine’s spirit and channels it into a clone created by Palpatine before his death. Palpatine attempts to resume control of the galaxy, but is defeated when Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo, who has received Jedi training from her brother, repel a “Force Storm” conjured by Palpatine and turn it back onto him, destroying his physical form once again.


Tom Veitch discusses Palpatine’s master plan in Return of the Jedi, when the Emperor says, “Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete,” he seems indifferent to his own death.
“He feels that whatever the outcome of this confrontation with Luke, he, Palpatine, will conquer.”
According to Veitch, the Emperor chose this moment to come out of the shadows because he no longer feared for the safety of his physical form. With one swift stroke, Luke would fall to the dark side, and Palpatine would be reborn.
“His mastery of the dark side had become such that he was now ready to make a transition he had been working toward for many years — namely the replacement of his aging, diseased, and crippled body with a young clone.”

Operation Cinder
Palpatine had a plan, fitting in with what we know of Force ghosts in the Star Wars canon and some visual hints we’ve seen in Battlefront II comics and video games.


Palpatine recorded his visage into various droids so he could make orders after his death and destabilize the Empire and the Republic.
Palpatine's contingency plan upon his death included sending numerous droids out across the galaxy to give his final orders for what he called “Operation: Cinder,” a method of destabilizing the Empire and the Republic after his death so that no person would ever have the amount of power he did.
These red-cloaked, humanoid figures resembled the Red Guard but used a projection of Palpatine’s face on their own heads.


Possessing a Knight of Ren is a different thing entirely, but the visual of Palpatine existing after death by forcing his identity onto another being is Star Wars canon.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Emperor Reborn: A History of the Biggest ‘Star Wars’ Villain

From The Emperor Reborn: A Not-So-Brief History of the Biggest ‘Star Wars’ Villain and why he matters.

EPISODE IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER 

The dead speak! 
The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, 
a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice 
of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE. 

GENERAL LEIA ORGANA dispatches secret 
agents to gather intelligence, while REY, 
the last hope of the Jedi, 
trains for battle against the 
diabolical FIRST ORDER. 

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader KYLO REN rages 
in search of the phantom Emperor, 
determined to destroy 
any threat to his power….

In Star Wars, later subtitled Episode IV – A New Hope, the Emperor is briefly mentioned by Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin, who tells his fellow Imperials that the Emperor has just dissolved the Imperial Senate, sweeping away the last remnants of the Old Republic forever.

Lucas continues to define the Emperor’s role. 
“The introduction of the Emperor is a major plot development. He may be the one who is saved for the end. When you get rid of the Emperor, the whole thing is over. The final episode is the restoration of the Republic.”

Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment that’s similar to Empire’s final script, minus one major revelation.
In Brackett’s first draft, based on the treatment, Luke’s father appears as a ghost to instruct his son.
Unfortunately, Brackett died of cancer before a second draft could be written, leaving Lucas to pen the next draft alone.
In this draft, he introduced a new plot twist: Vader as Luke’s father.


The Emperor appears to inform his apprentice that they have a new enemy: Luke Skywalker.
“The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.” 
A subservient Vader persuades his master that the young Jedi would be a great asset if he could be turned to the dark side of the Force.



Palpatine becomes the ultimate personification of evil in Star Wars, replacing Vader as the central villain. As Kasdan notes in Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, “My sense of the relationship between Vader and the Emperor is that the Emperor is much more powerful… and that Vader is very much intimidated by him. Vader has dignity, but the Emperor in Jedi really has all the power.”


Makeup designer Phil Tippett talks about the Emperor’s look.
“The arch-villain was intended to be a Methuselah figure kept alive and intact by some unknown magic.”
Early art of the Emperor featured an age-wrinkled face with a large split cranium that was beginning to grow apart. This unused concept seems to have inspired the design for the Sequel Trilogy’s Supreme Leader Snoke.


The Emperor tells Luke to destroy Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses and declares himself a Jedi. Enraged, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force Lightning. Unable to bear the sight of his son in pain, Vader throws the Emperor into the Death Star’s reactor, killing him… or so we thought.

In an early draft of the script, Luke picks up Vader’s helmet and puts it on.
The Emperor leads his new apprentice to the controls of the Death Star superlaser to destroy the rebel fleet. Instead, Luke aims it at Had Abbadon — the Imperial capital, later identified as Coruscant — and destroys it.



The Trilogy That Wasn’t: The Sequels That Never Materialized
In these rough outlines, the Emperor doesn’t make an appearance until Episode IX.
There is no Death Star II. Luke and Leia aren’t siblings.
In this incarnation of Return of the Jedi, Han Solo dies during a raid on an Imperial Base.
Leia grapples with her duties as the newly elected Queen of her people, and Luke goes off into exile “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns.”

Episode VII would focus on Luke’s life as a Jedi, while Episode VIII would see him reuniting with his twin sister, Nellith Skywalker, who is mentioned in Leigh Brackett’s draft of The Empire Strikes Back.
In Episode IX, Luke and Nellith would team up to battle the Emperor.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Colin Trevorrow’s Alleged Star Wars 9 Draft

How Colin Trevorrow’s alleged Star Wars 9 draft fixes Rise of Skywalker’s biggest problems.

Less than a month after Episode 9 hyperspaced into cinemas, an early draft of the movie, penned by original director Colin Trevorrow – who was fired from Episode 9 in 2017.

Firstly, how different is Trevorrow’s draft to the final product? For starters, it’s not called The Rise of Skywalker.
Instead, the alternate version is titled Duel of the Fates (a nod to the John Williams’ track used in The Phantom Menace) and the plot is the chalk to Abrams’ cheese.


Focusing on another of Palpatine’s grand plans, Duel of the Fates sees Kylo Ren – haunted by Luke Skywalker – discover an old holographic message from the Emperor instructing Darth Vader to seek out Tor Valum, the Sith who taught Palpatine the ways of the Dark Side.
Kylo takes Anakin’s place and heads to the Sith master for further training.
Meanwhile, The Resistance are hard at work trying to defeat the First Order by using a beacon – housed on the now-ravaged planet of Coruscant – to call on allies for help.
Rey continues her Jedi training, mainly in solitude, and Rose has a bigger role.

What’s clear from the “leaked” draft (verified by The AV Club) is how Trevorrow’s Episode 9 embraces the past, whereas The Rise of Skywalker is suffocated by it – a point that’s best demonstrated by Abrams’ treatment of Emperor Palpatine.


Most recently, new concept art for Episode IX has surfaced online that seems to show Colin Trevorrow's vision for the big Star Wars finale.
His movie, according to the leakers, would have been called Duel of the Fates. And by the looks of the art, Trevorrow had a very different Episode IX in mind.


It involves a Rebel uprising on an Imperial-occupied Coruscant, Rey wielding a double-sided blue lightsaber, and Luke Skywalker grabbing Kylo Ren's lightsaber with his bare hands. Very different indeed.


Rey follows a similar trajectory in Duel of Fates and The Rise of Skywalker: she struggles with the Dark Side, accepts help from dead Jedi, and becomes a neutral-ish Jedi who defeats evil.
The biggest difference between the two scripts – when it comes to Rey’s story – concerns Palpatine. The Emperor barely features in Duel of Fates and, therefore, does not get named as Rey’s grandfather.
However, what becomes clear from comparing the two stories is that Palpatine was not brought back into the fold for Rey’s benefit; the ultimate villain returned so Kylo Ren wasn’t the series’ Big Bad.


Duel of Fates does not redeem Ben Solo. The character, who’s haunted by Luke Skywalker throughout Trevorrow’s script, turns into a maniacal villain.
During the final act, Kylo blinds Rey with his lightsaber as they fight on the mythical Jedi planet of Mortis.
After that, Luke concludes that there’s no saving Kylo, and – with Yoda and Obi-Wan – they “extinguish” him.


The opposite happens in The Rise of Skywalker.
Ben Solo, after being killed and then healed by Rey, destroys/relinquishes all memory of Kylo Ren, throwing away his red lightsaber after a parental talk from Han Solo.
By the movie’s final act, Ben’s turned to the side of good and works with Rey to defeat Palpatine.
Ben then dies – as he does in Duel of Fates – but only after resurrecting Rey (with a smooching).

How come such a stark difference between the two scripts?
While Rey is tempted by the Dark Side through The Force Awakes and The Last Jedi, there was almost no chance of Disney allowing its leading hero to turn completely bad.
Ben was different; a pendulum swinging between good and evil, with the answer not being entirely clear.

We can only speculate about the conversations that happened at LucasFilm, but, judging by The Rise of Skywalker and Duel of Fates, the sticking point was almost certainly Kylo Ren and whether he should be redeemed.
As Rise of Skywalker was actually made, the answer over which way they wanted the story to go seems obvious. The question that Trevorrow couldn’t quite answer, though, was how to turn Kylo.
So, where do you start when turning Kylo? Using the foundations Rian Johnson built in The Last Jedi, the obvious answer seems to be to argue that Kylo’s subdued reasons for Rey could be enough.
Having them fall head over heels leaves you with two happy Jedi – and not much conflict.
Perhaps they battle General Hux together. But then, Hux isn’t exactly “final villain of the entire Skywalker saga” material.
You could introduce a new Sith Master, but there’s no real groundwork for that.


Abrams’ answer was to bring back Emperor Palpatine – a villain worse than Kylo who the young Skywalker could turn against. But, how do you make the formerly dead Sith relevant to the sequel trilogy story? Well, that’s easy: you make him the main protagonist’s granddad.


"Bringing back the Emperor was an idea J.J. brought to the table when he came on board," Trevorrow said, a month before The Rise of Skywalker reached cinemas. "It’s honestly something I never considered. I commend him for it. This was a tough story to unlock, and he found the key."

Frankly, bringing back Palpatine is a genius solution to LucasFilm’s Kylo Ren problem.
They wanted their main villain to turn good – so they needed a worse villain for him to fight.
You may not agree with the decision – and it’s hard to argue that The Rise of Skywalker is completely satisfying – but it certainly makes sense from a writers’ perspective.

“The dead speak!” begins the opening crawl.
How? Check Fortnite. Why? It doesn’t really matter. Palpatine’s back and there will be no further questions. He’s the Big Bad – then, now, and forever. Duel of the Fates changes that entirely.

In the alternate version, Palpatine’s poised as an ethereal threat, the former Emperor corrupting Kylo with words rather than being bafflingly resurrected.
A villain pulling the strings from beyond the grave is far scarier than one coming back from the dead to play puppet-master; a shade of subtlety that is sorely lacking from The Rise of Skywalker.


More importantly, the sequel trilogy’s new characters get room to forge their own paths in Duel of Fates instead of having to endlessly deal with what came before.
Kylo ignores Force Ghost Luke’s cries to return to the Light, and Ben Solo finally embraces his own mantra from The Last Jedi: “Let the past die, kill it if you have to.” In contrast, Palpatine becomes all-consuming in The Rise of Skywalker, and various secondary plots and characters melt away as the Emperor becomes the focus.
Even the sequel trilogy’s big mystery – the identity of Rey’s parents – becoming inexplicably tied to the Sith Lord.

Kylo’s tragic descent into becoming Duel of Fates’ Big Bad – without being redeemed along the way – feels far more earned and in keeping with the character.
The new revelation that he was the one who killed Rey’s parents (under Snoke’s orders) is more fitting than the kiss-and-make up conclusion of The Rise of Skywalker. Let’s just gently hand-wave away the genocide of millions across the galaxy, shall we?

The structure also feels vastly improved. Gone is the Sith planet of Exegol, sign-posted as the finale’s destination 10 minutes into Rise of Skywalker.
In its place, a series of classic Star Wars set-pieces, including BB-8 hijacking a Star Destroyer and Chewie riding an X-Wing. A series of daring escapades and suicide missions feels far more exciting than the paint-by-numbers MacGuffin chase we did get.