JJ ABRAMS Misled fans for NO reason

Can anyone compile a list of all of the mysteries from TFA? I'd like to get a tally of how many of them were answered vs unanswered/irrelevant.

 

Why and how was Finn able to break away from his conditioning to be a Storm trooper when the others could not?
Why were the two times in TFA when Finn asked Rey how did she do something, and her response both times was I don't know? The time when her and Finn were in the Millennium Falcon, and they were not only in sync with their words, but in action, and the other was when she was able to break free from Kylo and the Storm trooper. I have more, but I will just use these for starters.

 

Not a mystery, but remember when Kylo Ren was going to complete his training?

TLJ did create a new mystery though: why the hell did Luke create the map if he didn't want to be found?

 

How did DJ know about the evac?
Why was the New Republic so weak? Was it tiny compared to the Old Republic? Why? Why out of a galaxy of trillions of beings are only a few hundred willing to fight the First Order?
Who is Snoke?
How was Ben Solo influenced?
What happened exactly to all of Luke's Jedi?
Where does the First Order get its resources?
Who are the knights of ren?
And so so many more questions, that it would take hours to name all of them.

 

I don't think JJ misled people for no reason, but I do think that TPTB took advantage of all the questions/mysteries that were set up in TFA to hype up TLJ even though they knew some people would find the answers less than satisfying

 

And don't mistake me! I loved that reveal as it perfectly fits with The Force Awakens and Maz's whole thing that they are not coming back. And adds a layer of tragedy to Rey's character. My issues lie really with how the Force Awakens made her too skilled. Had that movie not done the mind trick thing, I would have been fine.

And the movie again, justifies this with her using a staff and I'm sorry; a lightsaber isn't the same as a staff. Really, I reiterate that I like the concept of that as it adds a lot more to Rey's journey; that she is a nobody. But really, in my view, given the prior film, it just rubs me the wrong way as it showcases how inconsistent this ST has been.

But I place the blame more on the Story Group and the two directors in my view not really communicating as much.

 

I disagree. There were stories about a scene that was shot, but cut from TFA where someone helps a little girl escape from Luke's training facility. And then of course there is the Force vision that shows one of the supposed Knights of Ren about to kill Rey during the slaughter of Luke's Jedi trainees, but stabbed by Kylo before she's killed. Then of course there is Maz's statement to Rey that the lightsaber is calling to her, like it did with Luke and Vader before that. JJ said in interviews early on that he gave Rian the major plot points but that the second film was Rian's story to take with and do as he pleased.

So, I think JJ's plans for Rey were quite different from Rian's. I suspect JJ planned on her being a Skywalker, but then Rian decided differently. If it's as you said, and the whole thing was designed to set Star Wars fans up for one massive letdown, then Kathleen Kennedy needs to hand over the reigns to the franchise to someone else.

 

This never happened. Don't know where you got this from.

Clearly, that wasn't Rey. She was just in a vision. She wasn't really there...

Which was never about her being related to Luke - but about her being the one to find him. If that meant she was related to him, then Maz would've known there and then. She didn't.

Which is what happened.

You're wrong. Your perception of above events confirms that. Sorry.

 

With respect to the scene I described, it might not have been shot, but I read there was a scene written and storyboarded that contemplated that. It was apparently cut for the script. I will see if I can find a news article on it. It's been years since I read that.

Nevertheless, unless you're JJ Abrams or he has talked to you about what he envisioned, you have no clue what he intended. You're interpreting TFA's scenes based on what happened in TLJ. Therein lies your mistake.

 

It wasn't by Mike Zeroh by any chance?

No, I interpreted the scenes this way before TLJ (see all my posts since Dec 2015) - which then confirmed my views on them. So I don't think RJ changed anything. All he did was fill in the blanks left by JJ. Rey was always intended to be a no-one. Plenty of quotes out there by JJ and RJ that explain this.

 

So, you think the Force vision was an attempt to mislead and it was all a big tease by JJ then? If true, what a prick.

 

No, it wasn't misleading or used to just p*ss off some fans. It was intentionally vague to show us Rey's mindset and ensure we went on the journey with her. If it were obvious then there would be no hook for Rey. Rey was always a no one. She knew that. But she hid from the truth about why she was left on Jakku. She accepted the first piece of the story in TFA when she is told they're never coming back. Then in TLJ, she accepts that they just dumped her and she wasn't left by accident. This was vital as it means we discover the truth with Rey and it provides a reason for why she'd explore the Dark Side (seeking the truth).

Had JJ said in TFA: Rey is a Skywalker, then you'd have a point. But all he did was set up her story. It's the fans that wanted Rey Skywalker that mislead themselves.

 

I disagree with that. The fan speculation wasn't done in a vacuum. JJ's force vision certainly implied there was a lot more to her backstory than what he apparently intended, whether she was a Skywalker or someone else. The vision makes zero sense otherwise. Why does she appear on the planet where Kylo is slaughtering the trainees? Why does Kylo stab one of the Knights of Ren when it looks like he's about to strike her? And if those scenes meant nothing at all, why put them in the movie if they weren't supposed to suggest something?

Either JJ misled us, or he intended something else.

 

It is misleading to you because you thought she was there (even though that was impossible because it was old Rey). It wasn't to me because I saw it as introducing Kylo Ren to her and giving her a vague glimpse into the story she is entering. (By the way - that wasn't Ren slaughtering trainees but him and the KoR fighting a clan that has nothing to do with the story we see play out. That scene was about Ren getting the legacy saber and in the original story, Maz steals it from him and the KoR when they're having a campfire).

JJ said himself that the vision wasn't made to make all that sense in terms of it giving away story. It was supposed to be confusing and scary and strange - because again, we're supposed to get a sense of how Rey is feeling. If we know everything before Rey does, then we don't go on the hero journey with her.

You need to unlearn what you have learned! Your perception of what all this meant in TFA was wrong and no where has JJ said that it meant something different to what RJ presented.

 

Which parts? Honestly curious. I thought Maz made it all but certain then confirmed it in TLJ.

Elements were left open within the vison but nothing that was hard evidence only loose foreshadowing.

 

Good point, racking my brains for a reason why Luke created the map - can't think of any reason for it to be created if he never wanted to be found?

Guessing Kylo's 'training' is to be beaten down for his failings

 

Who said Luke made the map? Al we know is that LST helped him find Ahch-To. Plenty of reasons for the route to exist without Luke being the one to have made it for others to follow and find him.

Snoke said what it was - I just can't remember whether it was for him to kill Rey or Leia. But he referred to it directly.

 

If Rey is a nobody, then her last name IS held back for a reason.

Rey's parents might be unimportant, but the idea that they are unimportant is important especially for Rey.

As for the mystery box: you are the mystery box. You project all sorts of expectations and theories into that box. Don't get angry when the mystery box does not provide the answers you in particular hoped for.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 19, 2017 ---

He didn't, but people found Luke's map. He didn't want the map to be found.

 

So why bother creating a map in the first place then? Especially one as intricate as the one he made.

 

"Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future…the past. Old friends long gone."