It goes without saying that none of the following rumors have been confirmed, and yet they come from MakingStarWars and the scoop site is commonly regarded as having very real sources and generally accurate information. However, they don’t hit 100% of the time and have unknowingly also spread some false information in the past as well.
So be warned that the following article may well contain SPOILERS for Star Wars: Episode 9, so tread carefully depending on your own SPOILER rules.
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Ok, still with me? Let’s get to it then shall we?
There are two different articles from MakingStarWars that have been published over the last 24 hours and I will pass on the information here from both of these.
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MacGuffins
The most recent post says that sources have suggested that there may be a MacGuffin involved in Star Wars: Episode 9. If you don’t know what the term MacGuffin means then you must be new to the geek movie game. A MacGuffin is an item, person or a place that drives the plot of the movie. So in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the MacGuffin is the Ark of the Covenant, in Infinity War the MacGuffin’s are the Infinity Stones etc.
The source claims that both the Resistance/Rebels and the First Order are all in a race to find some sort of powerful MacGuffin and that this race serves as the backbone of the plot for Star Wars: Episode 9. The outlet was careful to point out that they were not told what this MacGuffin might actually be, only that there would be one in the movie. Star Wars has used MacGuffins before, in A New Hope Leia was essentially the MacGuffin that drove the plot of the movie, though some may argue it was the Death Star. Again a MacGuffin featured in The Force Awakens and this time it was the search for the elusive Luke Skywalker or the map to Luke Skywalker would probably be more accurate. It should also be pointed out that in general JJ Abrams likes to use MacGuffins in his movies and his TV show Alias was based around a series of MacGuffins throughout its run.
At this point, I see no reason to doubt this information and its vague enough that it feels like it could be genuine, but we cannot say for certain until more official information is released, if it ever is?
The Knights of Ren and The Beyond
The second rumor is a bit more detailed and talks a little about potential villains for this next installment. The outlet claims that a new threat will emerge from another dimension called ‘The Beyond’ to threaten the Galaxy. The suggestion here is that whatever this is, it will pose a threat to both The First Order and The Resistance/Rebels. Could this be a way for Abrams to attempt some kind of redemption arc for Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren? The outlet also claims that The Knights of Ren have returned from ‘The Beyond’ in the movie and thus explaining their absence from The Last Jedi. Another part of this rumor sat less well with me, and that was the suggestion that Sith Troopers would be involved somehow in Episode 9. What even is a Sith Trooper when it’s at home? If we are talking trained up, Force-wielding Sith Troopers then Star Wars really has jumped the shark finally for me, but let’s wait and see.
Now, my thoughts here are complicated. I like the idea of a new threat from ‘Beyond’ and The Knights of Ren returning from some mission, I like the idea of the good and bad sides having to team up against a common threat. My issue is, that this is the kind of plot point I would have expected from Episode 7, not Episode 9. A threat like this appearing earlier would have made for a more interesting trilogy than what we have got so far, in my opinion.
For me The Force Awakens was just Abrams hitting the reset button after Return of The Jedi so he could remake A New Hope with a few differences. The Empire defeated, ah we will just create The First Order and not explain anything about how they got there. No Darth Vader, No Emperor, don’t worry we will just create Kylo Ren and a new Emperor in Snoke. At the time I thought it could work fine if Episode 8 really opened up some new story possibilities, but in my opinion this was the biggest failure of The Last Jedi, it didn’t follow up on the seeds sewn in Episode 7 and didn’t deepen and widen the story, which I feel the second part of a trilogy has to do.
So yeah, I like the ideas explored here, but it doesn’t really fit with what has come before and it feels far too late to introduce a new threat into the final part of a trilogy. I kind of feel like if this is true, then it’s been created in response to Rian Johnson choosing to kill off Snoke in The Last Jedi. This action removed any kind of redemption arc for Ben Solo in my mind, because he had his chance and his choice towards the end of the second act of The Last Jedi and he made it.
At this point, the only way Ben Solo can be redeemed is to have a huge turnaround and sacrifice himself for others. I just don’t see anything in Episode 7 or 8 that makes me think Ben Solo is capable of this. After all, he killed his own father and chased down his mother. He attempted to kill his uncle and tried to convince Rey to join him. I don’t feel like the connection between Solo and Rey is strong enough compared to Vader and Luke to sacrifice himself for love. In the OT this was built up over 3 movies and it still felt like Vader’s redemption was in the balance right up until the point he makes his choice. It also feels like it would just be once again copying the better work of his predecessors from Abrams, but then, in my opinion, that’s all Abrams has ever done. Change my mind below.
What do you think of these rumors, what do you think of my analysis of them? Let’s have a chat in the usual place below.
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