Star Wars prequel questions

[Pale Violet Light]

If episode 9 had been about Emperor Kylo Ren

Yeah, with Snoke down he was the only realistic option available. Once they decided to redeem Kylo Ren they were out of good villain options for the final film and I guess Palpy from nowhere was all they could come up with. Alternatively, having Rey fall to the dark-side (and maybe doing a hero/villain swap) could have been interesting, but they hadn’t really laid the groundwork for that.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah, with Snoke down he was the only realistic option available. Once they decided to redeem Kylo Ren they were out of good villain options for the final film and I guess Palpy from nowhere was all they could come up with. Alternatively, having Rey fall to the dark-side (and maybe doing a hero/villain swap) could have been interesting, but they hadn’t really laid the groundwork for that.

I mean, Rian Johnson kinda set up a Rey heel turn in The Last Jedi, when Luke admonishes her for not even hesitating to dive right into the dark side cave. He also tells her how her sheer power scares him and that he's only felt that way around one other person (presumably Palpatine). That said, Rey's just too optimistic and hopeful to go bad.

I reckon Ben's redemption was even more unearned than his grandfather's was. Anakin at least saved his son by sacrificing himself. It doesn't excuse all the horrible things he did as Vader, but it's better than Ben just kind of deciding he doesn't want to be bad anymore after Rey defeats him and then saves his life.

Having Ben turn back to the light to become a true Skywalker hero while Rey goes full-on Palpatine would've been interesting, but I think it would have been difficult to pull off.

 

[Maxperson]

As I recall Andor just opened full throttle in the sense that there was no narrative or foreshadowing to let you know what was going on. For me I had the feeling like I missed something. And seriously, after COVID my attention span and powers of comprehension are a lot less now, so that may have played a part. I didn't have the patience for the pay off and shut it off after maybe 10 minutes. Maybe I'll give it another chance.

I didn't have the patience for it, either.

 

[Zardnaar]

I mean, Rian Johnson kinda set up a Rey heel turn in The Last Jedi, when Luke admonishes her for not even hesitating to dive right into the dark side cave. He also tells her how her sheer power scares him and that he's only felt that way around one other person (presumably Palpatine). That said, Rey's just too optimistic and hopeful to go bad.

I reckon Ben's redemption was even more unearned than his grandfather's was. Anakin at least saved his son by sacrificing himself. It doesn't excuse all the horrible things he did as Vader, but it's better than Ben just kind of deciding he doesn't want to be bad anymore after Rey defeats him and then saves his life.

Having Ben turn back to the light to become a true Skywalker hero while Rey goes full-on Palpatine would've been interesting, but I think it would have been difficult to pull off.

Yeah Kyli couldn't work as a villain after TFA. At least an effective one.

Double turn coukd be easy. Redemption is easy in Disney SW.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah Kyli couldn't work as a villain after TFA. At least an effective one.

Meanwhile, Hux's fall from grace across the trilogy is an epic tragedy.

In TFA, he is a zealous, jack-booted space Nazi who is Kylo Ren's equal in every way. His spittle-flecked speech as the New Republic government is destroyed is deliciously evil.

In TLJ, he is immediately reduced to being the unwitting comic relief. First, Poe Dameron makes fun of him over the phone, then Snoke humiliates him by remotely Force-dragging him around the floor in front of everyone on the bridge. He briefly redeems himself after informing Snoke of his clever "tracking the Rebels through hyperspace" thing, but then Snoke dies and Ren takes over, and Hux is no longer Ren's equal. We last see him relaying Ren's orders and making quips like "I think you got him".

In RoS, he has truly sunk to the depths, selling out the First Order to the rebels in a bitter attempt to get back at Kylo Ren out of jealousy. No-nonsense General Pryde sees right through this pathetic shell of a man and has him executed on the spot.

 

[Zardnaar]

Meanwhile, Hux's fall from grace across the trilogy is an epic tragedy.

In TFA, he is a zealous, jack-booted space Nazi who is Kylo Ren's equal in every way. His spittle-flecked speech as the New Republic government is destroyed is deliciously evil.

In TLJ, he is immediately reduced to being the unwitting comic relief. First, Poe Dameron makes fun of him over the phone, then Snoke humiliates him by remotely Force-dragging him around the floor in front of everyone on the bridge. He briefly redeems himself after informing Snoke of his clever "tracking the Rebels through hyperspace" thing, but then Snoke dies and Ren takes over, and Hux is no longer Ren's equal. We last see him relaying Ren's orders and making quips like "I think you got him".

In RoS, he has truly sunk to the depths, selling out the First Order to the rebels in a bitter attempt to get back at Kylo Ren out of jealousy. No-nonsense General Pryde sees right through this pathetic shell of a man and has him executed on the spot.

Hux was delicious in TFA. Would have made a nice secondary villain or antagonist for Poe.

 

[pukunui]

Hux was delicious in TFA. Would have made a nice secondary villain or antagonist for Poe.

Exactly. Instead, they made him the butt of Poe's jokes.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think Solo is actually my favorite Disney era Star Wars movie. Was it "necessary"? Not remotely. And yeah, I get that people found the need to explain every distinctive thing about the character with events that seemingly happened in the course of a few days obnoxious. But it was just easy, breezy, and unpretentious fun and adventure. Fun is the dimension of the classic Star Wars formula that a lot of Star Wars media really falls down on. I know a lot of people love Rogue One, and I agree it's well-made, but it's so dreary and bleak, even before all the main characters die, I just never particularly want to watch it.

I also enjoy Episodes 7 and 8, but unlike Solo they lose massive points for being stuck in a trilogy ending in far and away the worst Star Wars movie ever made.

It didn't need to explain anything about the characters or could have even used some entirely new people, but the story it told in and on itself was a nice Star Wars adventure.
I also like grim & gritty Star Wars, but Train Heist Star Wars and Western Star Wars are also fine, and they'd all arguably worked better than the newer Star Wars Star Wars.

 

[pukunui]

It didn't need to explain anything about the characters or could have even used some entirely new people, but the story it told in and on itself was a nice Star Wars adventure.

You're talking about Solo here right? The movie where everyone except Han, Chewie, and Lando is new to the Star Wars universe? (Oh, and Maul at the very end, but that hardly counts.)

I quite liked Enfys Nest. Would be cool to see her and her proto-rebels again.

 

[Lanefan]

I've a soft spot for Phantom Menace - if nothing else it's a flowing fountain of one-line quotes - and the opening battle sequence in Revenge of the Sith is excellent, but other than that the prequels fall flat for me.

So many people sing the praises of Empire Strikes Back, yet I constantly fall asleep in the middle (Dagobah) bit.

I'll second @Gradine 's motion that RotJ is the best of the original three. That said, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that Rogue One is the best of the whole bloody lot, and Force Awakens might be second-best. Solo and New Hope are also up there, and then it's real hit-or-miss after those.

I haven't watched anything other than the eleven main movies but I have read a bunch of EU novels.

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The prequels did influence my D&D games, though:

Late in my previous campaign I ran three adventures in sequence: The Coldwood Menace (setting up the third in this sequence), Attack of the Bones (BBEG was a Dracolich) and Revenge of the Gith (guess who the villains were in that one!).

I yoinked the Kamino cloning facility from Attack of the Clones for my current campaign; I already had some ideas around clones being an ongoing sub-plot and those cloning pods they had in AotC were perfect!

And the sequels gave me a great character: I play a Thief these days whose backstory is very much based on Rey's scavenger backstory in TFA, only more adventuring-based (she goes into adventure sites after the real adventurers have cleaned out the danger and scavenges all the loot they miss).