It's been five years since Star Wars ended the Skywalker saga in an interesting and somewhat controversial way with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The sequel trilogy wasn't uncontroversial before The Rise of Skywalkerhowever, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi it was arguably more debated two years earlier. Although much has been said about the ending Star Wars film, and a very negative one at that, there's still a lot to love about the latest chapter in the Skywalker family story.
As the end of the most famous saga in cinema, The Rise of Skywalker surprisingly makes a lot of questionable choices. On the one hand, reintroduces the main villain of the prequel and original trilogies, Emperor Palpatine. This notorious decision to bring Palpatine back remained on the minds of many fans, leading to years of debate that caused many of the film's advantages to go unnoticed. Here we look at the five best ideas The Rise of Skywalker has going for it that it helps offset otherwise awkward choices.
5
Leia, Luke and Han's Sendoffs
Endings of legacy characters from the original trilogy
One of the best things about the sequel trilogy as a whole is finally seeing the cinematic return of Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill as their iconic characters. Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker have big roles in the sequels, and The Rise of Skywalker is no different, featuring at least one scene out of all three. There was even a flashback sequence showing Luke and Leia training in their youth.
This is possible for Leia using archival footage of Carrie Fisher from Star Wars: The Force Awakensbringing Leia to the silver screen one last time. These goodbyes are incredibly respectful and honor the characters well, showcasing all of their strengths.. Leia shows her son how strong he is, Han reminds him how good he is, and Luke prepares Rey to carry on the Jedi legacy, even finally lifting his X-wing out of the water.
4
Rey's new lightsaber
A golden saber made from his staff
The final scene of The Rise of Skywalker it's Rey on Tatooine, laying Luke and Leia's lightsabers to rest on Lars' estate. That's before lighting up her own lightsaber and declaring herself “Rey Skywalker”, heir to the family legacy. Despite the name's controversial reputation, few can deny that Rey's new personal lightsaber is a wonderful idea.
Firstly, Rey's blade is yellow – a lightsaber color not seen in a Star Wars film up to this point. That alone makes it a cool sight, but the quality of the design doesn't stop there. Rey's lightsaber hilt is constructed from parts of her iconic staff. In this way, the former scavenger carries a piece of her past with her at all times, while also carrying the new Jedi legacy.
3
Ben Solo's Redemption Arc
The Rise of the Last Soil
As one of the most popular aspects of the entire sequel trilogy, Ben Solo's role in The Rise of Skywalker is an obvious highlight. This is true despite the comparatively small role Kylo has in this film compared to The Last Jedi. Ben Solo begins the film as the evil Supreme Leader of the First Order and ends with him giving his life to save Rey, making it a redemption arc.
Much of this is inspired by one of the film's best scenes, when Ben repeats the final confrontation he had with his father in The Force Awakens with a new mindset. This, along with Rey's compassion and his mother's nudging, sends Ben back to the light side of the Force. He becomes a true hero, with Adam Driver's physical performance shining through, and is pivotal to the survival of the Jedi Order. through Rey, becoming one with the Force after the two shared a passionate kiss.
2
The Citizen Fleet on Exegol
A galaxy united against the emperor
As the final chapter of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker I needed to have a final word on the galaxy. It needed to feel like an ending, and given that the conflict in the sequels felt like a repeat of the conflict in the original trilogy, it was necessary to give a definitive reason why this wouldn't happen again. Surprisingly, it delivers this in a wonderful way.
The arrival of the Citizen Fleet at the Battle of Exegol is an incredibly triumphant moment, but it wasn't just that. It was a realization of Anakin Skywalker's diagnosis of the galaxy's biggest problem in Star Wars: Episode I – The phantom menace. It is a firm statement that now the citizens of the galaxy themselves are refusing to return to the old ways, contrary to what happened in the past. Return of the Jediwhere the Rebellion won. In The Rise of Skywalkerthe galaxy itself rose to the occasion and won the day.
1
Exegol, Sith history and Sith troopers
The Sith on screen
The sequel trilogy decided to move forward and at the same time go backwards – far back, with the introduction of the Jedi and Sith homeworlds of Ahch-To and Exegol. Exegol was the central and most important world for The Rise of Skywalkerleading to lots of fun Sith imagery and a darker vibe to everything there. It was an all-Sith planet, and it definitely feels like it.
This is fully encapsulated with the undead Palpatine scaring audiences from the film's first sequence. The red-armored Sith Troopers, while they don't appear on screen for long, also make an incredible impression, with armor that channels First Order clones and stormtroopers. Most of all, though, it's great fun to have the Sith in their element on screen, not hidden or disguised, and not leading an Empire. The Sith are appropriately the last Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker's, true villains, leading to their ultimate defeat.