What's the point of this trilogy?

Hm.
For me, the saga makes solid sense entirely without much effort.

Exploring the beauty of how it representatively paints the themes and messages is quite extremely involved, but seeing the themes running through it all as a coherent message was straight forward for me.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

one of the threads is technically supposed to be spoiler-free, but clearly the lines here are very muddy. : o p
we'll merge it next week.

 

I personally just felt like it was redundant and too similar of a post that was already existed. That way people won't get confused on which one to reply too. Also you really can't answer the question to it's full context without seeing Episode 9 anyways. At least it now has a spoiler tag on it. Figured i'll help a MOD out..lol

 

The family as one body. In TROS the Palpatine "body" has two sides - Sheev the "the Palpatine slave to the dark side" and Rey "the good in Palpatine" (the conflict within this Palpatine body is an outward reflection of the internal conflict within Vader/Anakin in ROTJ). At the end of the movie the dark side is eliminated leaving the one body redeemed. The focus is not on the individual body it is on the family body, so it's called the Rise of Skywalker(focus on the name of the family body). The Skywalker family body is also fully redeemed, so we end with Ben becoming one with the force i.e. the Skywalker family body, once finishing the legacy of the father (Anakin) in resolving the balance of the body, becomes one with the force. So we see Ben and Leia becoming one with the force at the same time.

This, of course, brings balance to the galactic family body at the "outmost" of the collective body - individual -> family -> society.

 

Hi all! Following you since long time ago but never posted before, it's a real pleasure to be here!

I voted "Other" because I think the main theme of the whole trilogy is an exhortation to be yourself without any fear, and also the idea that the world is never black or white, but it has 1000 shades of grey in the middle you can move among by following your heart and will.

I think of Luke's moment of weakness, Rey called by darkness, Kylo called by light, Han as one of the OT hero being an absent father, Poe trying to redeem himself by choosing a more noble path than the one chosen before, Fin apparently born to be "evil" deciding to be different, DJ himself and his scene about Resistance buying weapons the same way the New Order does, Rey discovering her real origin and deciding to follow a different path.

Summarizing it all in a few words, I think it's about the power of will.

 

A lot of juicy stuff that we we're suppose to see in the movies was left out so that we must consume it through some other content (books, comics etc.).
I feel like they deliberately withhold cool stuff from the movies just for the sake of publishing stuff like Visual dictionary or some other media.

We also had that stuff before, during PT, but not in a way that you NEEDED to buy just to figure out where in the heck is our main character, and with who is he interacting.

The point of this whole trilogy was to sell additional content and that strategy was put into overdrive.

In the OT times you didn't have a ton of additional canon content because everything that mattered was told IN the movies, and that goes for PT as well.

 

My attempt: off course it's hard to give the ST a 'point' when it seems there was no masterplan (we can endlessly discuss whether there was a plan or not, whether one of the directors crushed the plan or not). And off course a lot of it is a reharshment, a soft reboot if you want of the OT. You can even say it was unnecessary, but then every movie made for entertainment is by definition 'unnecessary' if it's not for the money.

Still I feel it has its own contribution to the entire Saga. Here's my look at the 'Galactic level' of things:
In the PT the main point is how a peaceful Republic that stood for Thousand years transformed into an evil Empire. Already before Palpatine became Chancellor the Senate had lost its purpose. It became full of greedy bureaucrats, there was no interest in the common case. Individualism started to win over collective thinking. In TPM this was illustrated by the greedy Trade Federation. For evil Palpatine it was the right setting to rise. This kind of individualistic democracy didn't work anymore. It's very comparable to real life where politicians favor personal success over their mission to serve the common good. We all know where it ultimately leads too.

In the OT, off course it's the new hope that returns, the focus is especially on the heroes, not on politics. On the Galactic Scale we have off course the rise of the Rebellion against the Empire. The fact that even in this desperate situation, the underdog can win. Advanced technology doesn't necessary triumph. This way the small amount of x-Wings against the Death Star I, but also the 'Ewok factor' at the battle of Endor play a role. The Empire gets destroyed, the Galaxy is at peace now, you would say.

But... what many people tend to forget: after a war, there's also a rebuilding. And if you want to rebuild and look to the future, one cannot make the same mistakes again. Without a vision on the future, it becomes chaos (I know there's some irony in this sentence which also can be applied to the way the ST was made). Also in real life, the fall of a dictarorship doesn't mean automatically a new utopia starts, the rebuilding process can be long and painful. Already in TFA the new Senate, which was probably a copy of the old one except the location, gets destroyed. They are accused to be a treacherous regime lying to the Galaxy. They were not resistent to the threat of the First Order, perhaps because they didn't take it seriously (which is regrettably not shown in the movie). The Republic fails again.

One of the questions on which TLJ and TROS then gives us a subtle answer is: what kind of Galaxy do we want? What makes true peace?
In TLJ we see a sample of what the answer is NOT: Canto Bight, which is full of the same kind of greedy Merchants who were responsible for degrading the Senate back in the era of the PT. At first Finn loves it, but Rose invites him to look closer.
When looking at the different worlds in TROS visited by the heroes we get some kind of mini-tour through a diverse Galaxy: first the aki-aki on Pasaana where the first ally is meat: Lando, second the smugglers city of Kijimi where you see how cruelly they're handled by stormtroopers, where we meet Zorii. Than last but not least Kef Bir with Jannah and the defected storm troopers. The diversity between the allies mirrors the diversity between the big 3 of this trilogy: an ex-scavenger, an ex-smuggler and an ex-stormtrooper (we could go on all night). People like Lando, Jannah and Zorii didn't have much screentime, but they simply served their purpose as 'supporting characters' in the literal sense of the word.

At the end when the great final battle ensues the moment comes when everybody arrivés: we see a very huge, but diverse fleet with a lot of different, unique ships. It contrasts the order and monotony of the Final Order SD fleet. Why do some money ships show up? Because now they have something which they apparently didn't have at the end of TLJ: HOPE, A VISION ON THE FUTURE, THE SENSE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN. This way TROS fulfills the arc started in TLJ of a Galaxy searching for hope, a future perspective. Maybe the 'rumors' of Luke Skywalker kicking Kylo Ren's ass is a motivating factor.
This perspective means: unity in diversity, and for that cooperation and giving yourself for a common good are required.
When the fleet arrives the circle is complete: in TPM there was no interest in the common good, in TROS there finally is.

A political answer on the question 'What kind of Galaxy do we want?' is not given: at the end of TROS we don't know which kind of government will come: is it the same Senate, a Republic again, or why not some kind of 'United Nations'-Confederacy which gives a bigger amount of autonomy to the different systems but is still built on cooperation?

I know the ST borrows a lot from the OT and both are about the great dictator being defeated by the small force against all odds. I know the OT was also about hope, but this time the hope gets 'universalized'. That's the new thing: people all over the Galaxy are eager to build something where they all believe in, despite their differences. A collective 'awakening' has occurred. Maybe the Force took care of that...

 

I think it was about hitting a clear system button on the galaxy once again. The established governments are gone to be replaced by who knows what, and yet again the sith are gone, sure to return at some point, and we have a single jedi left to rebuild the order like Luke was at the end of ROTJ. Except the galaxy is in reset mode. Now new republic really is left and the first order is gone. I think a more autonomous society will emerge probably many interplanetary alliances and trade groups but probably for awhile mostly independent systems. In my head. But also could be a new republic and also a mix of the two. And probably syndicates.

 

To me, the beauty of mythic storytelling is that it doesn't just have one "point." You can draw so many lessons and themes from the text.

Here's one I see.

The Prequel Trilogy is all about the looking to the future.

-The Jedi fail by focusing on prophesies
-Anakin fails by acting on visions of the future
-The whole trilogy begins with Kenobi saying "Master Yoda told me to be mindful of the future" and Qui-Gon correcting him: "But not at the expense of the moment."

The Original Trilogy is--granted, this is a little more of a stretch--about being in the present.

-Yoda constantly encourages Luke to be "in the moment," to be "at peace, passive."
-A constant theme of characters being called to rise to action in the moment. Luke, Han, Artoo and Threepio, Lando, even the Ewoks.

The Sequel Trilogy is about looking to the past.

-All of our main characters, especially Rey and Kylo, live in the shadows of the heroes/villains of the past.
-Kylo and Luke both falter by assuming that the past must be destroyed. But Luke, at Yoda's urging, realizes that we can learn from the mistakes of the past and make a new start.
-And of course, in TROS, Rey must struggle with the legacy of her spirit--the voices of the Jedi--and the dark legacy of her own bloodline.

 

The PT is all about how a Republic and Establishment can get arrogant and content with the status quo. Palpatine exploited the institutions as he divided and conquered.

The OT is all about how a society or a group of people can bind together for a cause when the chips are down. The Rebels had a cause (pardon the pun) and they were able to defeat the evil empire.

The ST is all about how history repeats itself. While many see TFA as ANH 2.0, I would actually say it’s a metaphor and done purposely. The ST can be summed up in the old saying, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

 

ideally the ST needed to expand the lore behind the force and look at things from a new, perhaps more cosmic angle. this is kind of in-line with Lucas ideas, you still have the old characters returning, new characters to pass the torch but you set it up with a greater vilian and a grander theme than the previous movies, something that ups the stakes dramatically by the time we get to Episode 9. what we got was far too disjointed, lack of likeable characters, lack of the older characters that are universally loved, almost nothing when it came to lore. i thought TLJ was going to explain some stuff with Luke and the Jedi texts etc but in the end it was nothing. it barely connected to the previous movies, huge leaps in logic and plot to set up scenarios that were similar to the previous films (First Order, Palpatine). just a big mess when looking at the overarching, or lack of, story. a huge missed oppurtunity.

 

I get your point but I still actually really really like the ST

 

Today my brain doesn't have the capacity to think much so I will respond through my soul.

What's the point of this trilogy?

LOVE

Love each other and peace for everyone.
Love will save our galaxy people.

 

Didn't spell Kylo it out?
Let the past die, kill it if you have to.
Isn't that ironical what Rey did from a certain point of view.
Don't let the sins of your "father" define who you are.

 

What's the point of this trilogy?

Just Disney Milking the Star Wars Cow for some cheap Billions!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Believe this trilogy brings us nothing to close all the story behind (Palpatine is a late adition but it makes sense). All the characters we knew were put aside quickly and with very ease discarded from the story, no significant spaceships or alien species, despite loving BB-8 and considering Ben Solo\Kylo Ren and Finn are excelent characters, all this trilogy brings nothing new to a story we all know to well (Luke isolation after Kylo Ren destroyed his new Jedi Academy was an amazing plot twist)(Rey should be a no one and bring closure on previlege and power heritages)

 

No wonder the cow is skinny, this guy took all of it.

 

How dare movies make money.
How dare anyone set up an industry around, or further, the monetization of art.

Clearly if we don't like a work of art, then it was because this ##### of Babylon exploited its integrity out of it.

...sure.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

Kant defined Art as anything someone produces with an objective and without a function! And everyone should felt free to do it and apreciated as they like it!
My only objection lies on the offensive, the segregation and hate motifs on Art!!!!

Star Wars Replicas aren't offensive, they are just blatant, in my opinion many movies of today bring way too little to our cultural panorama and simply cash in big bucks. I've got nothing against that idea, some people like it, i don't so i just stay away.

 

Well said. I concur.

 

The point? The meaning? Just one thing. And that’s for you to decide.