Will Episode IX have a new villain?

Actually, I haven't.

Feel free to explain the concept to me if it makes you feel better though.

Perhaps I'll even change the entire way I choose to write, just for you.

Then again, there's always the ignore button..

So have at it, man.



"Ride the Tide"

-SOAS

 

Will Episode IX have a new villain?
To end a trilogy, i think it's not the best option. Unless they want to follow the story with innumerable episodes... Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future of SW

 

No.Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren.Unless...there is always the opportunity to bring Darth Jar Jar to the fore.

 

Part of the problem with the premise of this thread is that it assumes that Rey's final challenge will be a test of lightsaber skills with Kylo Ren. While these two obviously will have a showdown, there's more than one way to win, or lose a duel as it were.

I propose that Darth Vader lost the duel on Cloud City. Oh he obviously showed dominance with is lightsaber....... however, he failed in his mission to either capture, kill, or turn Luke Skywalker. Yes, he proved himself a better swordsman, but if you think that duel was just a sword fight, I'm afraid you missed the point. Luke certainly didn't win either, since he went into that fight hoping to kill Darth Vader and then got his world turned upside down, and he lost a hand. I'd argue that Obi-Wan Kenobi won the duel on the Death Star, as it was what allowed Luke and company to escape aboard the Millenium Falcon, not to mention ended with him becoming more powerful than Vader could possibly imagine.

Now the prequels were full of duels that were no more than sword fights. They were flashy, well choreographed, and beautiful to watch, but in the end you won by killing or maiming your opponent nothing more. There was complete lack of dialogue. The sole exception (and if they were going to have it be more for one fight, this was the one to do it), was the duel between Sidious and Mace Windu. Granted, the two of them exchanged little more than blows, but there was a deeper meaning to its ending. They fought for Anakin's soul, and Windu lost hard. I'd say that Windu was winning the physical battle (and if you want to say that Palps was taking it easy on him in order to manipulate Anakin, that only reinforces my point). The moment Windu gave into his fear of Sidious and tried to kill him in what was pointed out to not be the Jedi way, that was the indisputable moment that he lost.

As such, I hope that Rey's final showdown with Kylo Ren is more than just a test of skill with a Lightsaber, or a test of mastery of the Force. It should be a true battle of wills, of ideals. One way to do it would be for Kylo Ren to begin losing himself to the Dark Side. He's already been scarred by killing his own father just for the darkness of it. Within hours of assuming command of the First Order he has humiliated himself in front of his army and Hux would like nothing more than to shoot him in the back and take over himself. I could see him ruling as a mad king, increasingly unstable, haunted by his failures and the ghosts of his father (metaphorical) and his mentor, maybe even his idol (both would be literal Force Ghosts). As such, when he fights Rey, it would be with a savage recklessness that only dark-side fueled madness can bring on, and Rey isn't ready for it. Rey's task isn't just to win a sword fight, but rather to try and quel the storm within Ben Solo. That would be good.

Oh, and I hope we see the Knights of Ren.

 

Some of you might disagree, but I feel in light of Snoke and apparently Phasma's death, as well as Hux's role of jester in TLJ, that EPIX kind of needs another villain.

We have Kylo and the KoR, but do any of you think that the door may still be open for Rey to turn? Maybe even Kylo and Rey swapping sides.

This is a SW trilogy that is breaking new ground with the fact that 7 and 8 take place within a month combined. Even with a time lapse, this trilogy will mostly likely take place in a more condensed time frame than both previous ones. With that in mind, the possibility of many of these characters coming back in the next or future sagas probably exists. Are there any other possibilities that you see could happen in 9?

 

Nah. KoR may return but Kylo is now the big bad.

 

Doubtful that Rey being turned is a possibility for EPIX, 3rd installment of the trilogy is where the hero comes into their own. Unless they have Daisy Ridley locked in for another trilogy (which they don't) I'm not sure if it would make sense to try to work in a "turn"... there just isn't enough time to develop it properly.

 

In fact, currently Daisy is stating that she is going to be done after IX. Obviously that's not binding, but as of now there's no reason to believe otherwise.

 

She actually clarified this and said that she'd be in for more movies. She just always thought of the current project as a three movie arc.

Going into TLJ I would have been interested in seeing Rey turn. After TLJ, I don't really care to see that. I would rather have her restart the Jedi order and fulfill the role Luke filled in the Legends Jedi academy stuff.

 

Interesting.

Nevertheless, if she originally saw EpIX as a three movie arc, I hardly believe we'd see Rey turn in the final act.

 

Agreed. The only way the PT worked was because we already knew about the redemption to follow that already occurred in the OT. If our first introduction to the SW universe was Anakin, it would have been extremely disappointing to have the project end with the triumph of evil and the fall of Anakin. So too would it be with Rey. I don't even think people who dislike her character would be happy with a movie where she turns at the end. It only works if there's at least one other movie to follow up and honestly given that TLJ "burned down everything" it almost feels like we need 2 more movies to complete the new saga. One movie to introduce the conflict or obstacle that needs to be overcome, and the next movie to resolve it. Otherwise you need a gigantic time jump where you walk into the middle of an existing conflict.

 

The KoR can possibly fill the void and are probably the most likely choice.

That said, having a certain blue skinned, red eyed alien come back from his long mission, reign in Kylo who's emotional state has been exposed and forced him and FO to retreat, but has had the good fortune to get the Republic off guard and party a little too soon could be cool too. He certainly wouldn't need much introduction.

 

The Dark Side of the production clouds everything.

 

A new villain for the one final film in this trilogy? Unknown until now and completely new? No pre-existing backstory or explanation? Pffft! That'd be insanely mad, as he or she would only last a single episode!

So yes, there will be, because the toys of him/her will earn Disney a fortune!

 

Because characters have never been made to sell action figures in Star Wars. Its completely inconceivable.



Regardless, I doubt they'll bring in a new major villain. Ben is in a perfect position to become the main villain, with IX revolving around resolving the main narrative of him and Rey and the larger FO vs. Resistance story. Now they may bring in more mooks for the main characters to fight, like the Praetorian Guards, but not a main villain.

 

I suspect that there was a power behind Snoke's throne who will be revealed. The Last Jedi novelization suggests that Snoke found what Sidious sensed coming from the Unknown Regions.

 

I agree episode 9 should not forget about a sith aspect. That should matter some.

 

I hope that the Knights of Ren are the new villains, providing a motive why Kylo decided to overthrow Snoke and aquire the assets of the FO. The background of the knights could then be explore in RJ'st trilogy, with Ren being the new hero.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 1, 2018, Original Post Date: Mar 1, 2018 ---

Don't read too much into it, many things were said and done in the novels and almost nothing of it was included in the ST movies.

 

I imagine Ren will have some sort of apprentice, probably someone Rey tried to teach between 8 and 9 that turned (time jump would help that). Or they could go the route that she is training someone new, who then turns during the film to Kylo's side during a key moment. That would then give a rub to both as Kylo gets to show how badass he is, while Rey's own student turns against her, mirroring Ben/Anakin. The problem being is that I don't see how it isn't riding the well-worn ground of past movies.

But at this point, they're pretty well invested in Kylo being the primary antagonist.

 

Nah Kylo & his KOR have filled that role with Snoke out of the way.