5 things I want to see in Episode 8

I liked that TFA had only atmospheric battles. It was something different and they looked really cool. But yeah, some space battles moving forward would be nice.

 

1. Growing internal struggle with Kylo Ren
2. Rey training with Luke
3. Captain Phasma hunting Finn
4. Knights of Ren in action
5. Rey's true identity revealed

 

1. Kylo v Luke
2. Phasma going after Finn & Chewie (oh and Poe!!!)
3. Knights Of Ren in action
4. Snoke back-story
5. Rey back-story

 

1. Kylo's psychological struggles, it would be great to see him worshiping Vader and then have "good" Anakin appear as a Force Ghost and then Kylo misinterprets it as a test by Snoke. Kylo goes off kilter and gruesomely murders someone. Way more chilling than Vader's nonchalant Force choking.
2. Luke using the green saber or some serious Force strength. Powerful, awe-inspiring, and understated. Kind of like when Yoda lifts the x-wing out of the swamp.
3. The twist. I have no idea what it will be, but a darker second episode in a trilogy plus Rian Johnson makes it unavoidable.
4. Phasma living up to her potential.
5. A slow paced set of scenes to build up the new main three and give more depth to the characters. I am thinking of a parallel to the second act of ESB.

 

I think Kylo is still too weak for Luke unless Luke is just rusty .

 

We already have the Tolkien black person of this trilogy .

 

1.) A slower-paced, lore based film. I imagine this to be Luke/Rey learning Light Side history, while Kylo/Snoke do the same with Dark Side.
2.) Finn and Poe team together on a daring mission to brand new, fresh planet(s). This going on while our main characters are exploring the Force would create a great pace to the film.
3.) Ben Solo and Leia Organa-(Solo) to have a reunion. I imagine this moment to be heavily emotional, not necessarily happy emotion, but emotion.I would guess Luke would be present as well.
4.) Climactic space battles WITHOUT a superweapon. After three Death Stars, I would hope the bad guys would get a clue.
5.) Everyone is speculating Episode VIII will mirror ESB to a tee.. I'm hoping it has a few nods and similar beats, but I'd like this to move forward more than TFA did. I found the parallels to be a TAD overdone in TFA, even though I adored the film. This would mean new planets, characters, threats, powers, etc.. similar to what we got from the prequel films.

All that being said, I have a feeling Episode VIII is going to be insanely good. Two more years.....

 

I really want to see a fully trained Kylo vs. the rest of the Knights of Ren. Maybe the "final test" to finish his training?

 

Like how I always say that sw is payed out in real time, he will be fully trained by the time of VIII .

 

I came up with an exeption to my own nr2. The spacebattle could have some surface-scenes if: There is a ship to ship dogfight chase in space and we get a cockpit-view when the ship goes from space, into the atmosphere vertical right toward the planet. turn up again in the last second and then goes back up into space. It would be a nice rollercoaster-ride on theme parks to.

 

1. All out war between the New Republic and First Order: No more guerrilla war, ragtag, hit and run Rebels Resistance for me please.
2. Knights of Ren: Let me see more of these badass looking sons of b***hes. Although this is predicated upon them being force sensitive/Dark Jedi warriors and not Kylo's fanboys/groupies/backup singers.
3. To see Luke rejoin the conflict: It would be cool to see Luke return to battle after his years of depressive reclusiveness and I don't want him to dispatch Rey to help while he stays to watch his pet rocks.
4. More internal conflict from Kylo: like many others I hope that his murder of Han has thrown his inner turmoil into hyperdrive and will eventually prove to be a pivotal moment in his return to the light, Han's last triumph.
5. Finn to have a relevant storyline: What do I mean by this? Well for starters Phasma can f**k off. Don't need that bit character paired off with Finn so he can become the irrelevant side character some people want him to be. Ep.VIII will be a risky time for Finn in terms of plot line because he's been separated from Rey, who was essentially the focus of his character in TFA, so the challenge will be to keep him as relevant as Rey without being her lightsaber caddie.

 

awww. i do admit this kills me that Han failed. i'd definitely like to see this somehow rectified too.

 

Yeah, I'm going to keep on the optimistic side for once and hope that Han's sacrifice is something that eats away at Kylo, an anchor of remorse that holds Ben in the light. Of course I will ignore all of Abram's talk of seeing the development of a villain because it doesn't fit in with my theory, go away JJ I'm not listening to you.

 

I want Phasma to actually use her blaster. She never fired a shot in TFA, She was the most wasted character of all time in cinematic history. She was the character I was most looking forward to seeing, and she did NOTHING!!!!!!
Other than that, TFA was great.

 

Well in fairness they were modelling her on Boba Fett who essentially did nothing and inexplicably acquired a large fanbase for just looking cool, so in that regards they succeeded. From what I remember reading Phasma was shoehorned in to have another toy to sell and to increase the amount of female roles in the film. In fact the reason that KK was so quick to confirm that Phasma was alive and in Ep.VIII was probably because she was a female character on the evil side so it saves them having to introduce another.

 

i'm okay seeing Kylo Ren hit bottom (and that's what i hope JJ is talking about), but yeah, Han's sacrifice will be for nothing if Ben isn't saved.

i keep telling my sister this (she is monumentally peeved about Han's death). i finally convinced her by saying "look ~ if Ben dies evil, Han dies forever with him. if Ben lives and is good, then Han goes on". she couldn't argue that ~ hahaha.

 

Oh Kylo's already at rock bottom, that's why he divides his time between holding back the tears and screaming at people/destroying things. What I assumed Abram's was saying is that during the ST we'll see Kylo's journey into becoming a villain, mirroring Rey's Hero's journey, which would naturally exclude any chance of redemption for Kylo/Ben. Not something I'm going to complain about too much but it would certainly make the story more boring in my view.

I don't mind Han's death either way though. It was the best thing to do with his character, both because he was one of the most beloved OT characters and there was no where to go with his character really. Leia is the General/NR politician and Luke is the Jedi Master but Han was just the lovable wise cracking rogue whose plot relevance came from his connection to the other main characters.

 

hahaha ~ i guess what you said about Han's death is similar to how i feel (but for real different reasons). so for me it's not "bottom" for Kylo Ren. it's truly awful, but you can see on his face he's not made the separation he'd hoped to. so i think he'll come back in viii more villainous than ever ~ maybe even completely remorseless (Snoke will have put him to task). he might even do something even more heinous to hit true bottom.

then the guilt will hit. late in viii or early in ix, he'll crack. i can't see them leaving him the villain.

 

Hmm, perhaps. If I am serious for a moment, to me it seemed like Kylo was playing a part in TFA, not a double agent by any means, but a man playing the role of a villain/Dark Jedi hence this is partly why I think he had the mask: it aided him in assuming that role. He did all the intimidating actions you'd expect of said villain, mind rape, ordering the massacring of defenceless villagers/killing Lor San Tekka, but the act occasionally falls apart and I thought this was most notable when he had his temper tantrums. Notice how he never killed someone like Vader did when he heard news of failure but instead took out his anger/frustration on inanimate objects. At least I don't think he killed that officer that reported Finn/Rey's escape from Jakku.

He can't quite bring himself to senselessly kill his subordinates in cold blood, even his killing of Lor San Tekka was a an impetuous act caused by the old man's baiting and, more importantly, his questioning his "evilness" for want of a better word: I don't think Kylo intended to kill him when they started talking. His natural aversion to evil acts is further demonstrated when Snoke gives Hux permission to fire the Starkiller weapon as Kylo futilely, and quite emotionally, tries to convince Snoke he can get the information they need from Rey if he just has more time and help. When the weapon is fired we see Kylo watching silently from the bridge of his ship and this scene could be showing us two things:

1. He's wearing his mask again: He is trying to play his role as a villain and quash whatever sentimentality/emotion he may have towards Starkiller annihilating billions of people. Like I said the mask helps him play his role and helps him hide/stiffle his emotions.
2. He left Starkiller shortly after the decision to fire was given: Clearly he didn't approve of this course of action and therefore took himself off to sulk about the matter without giving away how much he didn't want to follow this course of action.

So to get off this overly long tangent, I think Kylo thought killing Han would prove that he had mastered his emotions and convince himself that he was the villain he was playing at. Like you say I don't think it had the effect he intended and his remorse is even more powerful now than before. I expect him to return in EP.VIII more composed and in control but I also expect to see him hesitate over taking some actions but with a more convincing front so that both his colleagues and his enemies will believe that he is doing so for logical reasons and not because he can't bring himself to. Does that make any sense?