Media Essays: A Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Re-write Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

Written by The Wandering Fox

You stuck around? If you have, then good, you didn’t fall to the Dark Side.

Okay, enough joking. This will go over the characters of the trilogy, including the two I introduced. The characters here will be Han, Luke, Leia, Rey, Finn, Snoke, Kylo Ren, Owen, and Coris.

I will say I will not cover Lando, Chewbacca, R2D2, C3PO and Po, because though I like those characters they don’t have much impact on the sequel trilogy.

Han Solo

Unlike The Force Awakens in which he was a deadbeat dad who ran away from Leia once their son turned to the Dark Side, Han remains as one of the generals of the New Republic, married to Leia, hasn’t lost faith in his son and keeps being the best he can. Yet despite him remaining dedicated to his wife and the New Republic, Han is still sad with how his son fallen to the Dark Side, blaming himself for not being there to save him, but has promised himself and Leia he will bring his son back.

Han still owns the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca still helping him. Because of him being married to Leia and a skilled pilot, Han is greatly respected by those in the New Republic both young and old, Po looking up to him as a idol, though Han, despite being a lot older, married and being a dad, is still a bit laid back in his behaviour but the man makes it obvious he takes deep care of the younger generation of pilots, who all turn to him for guidance.

Han’s marriage to Leia hasn’t stopped their dynamic from the original trilogy, both are still a bit snarky with the other though a bit softer as well, as both became a mother and father it has made them go a bit softer, he’s fully embraced Luke as his brother in law, often joking of how Luke’s becoming a wizard like Obi Wan. He does have his moments where his faith in Luke is tested due to the new conflict, his son fighting for the First Order, but he does listen to his wife in to not doubt him for he has seen Luke is doing his best to try and bring Kylo back.

Han does still die, but here it’s by Leia’s side, both of them trying to talk sense into their son. Kylo stabs Leia first, thus Han briefly scuffles with him, trying to keep his wife safe. Han goes down, stabbed, yet chooses to keep shielding Leia until Owen and Finn step in to save him. In his dying moments, Han tells Luke to forgive his son, to save him no matter what, holding Leia’s hand as they die. Han is given a hero’s burial, his character loved and remembered by those in the galaxy he inspired, dying to keep his wife safe and still forgiving his son. Han wears what he wore in The Force Awakens though in the sequel it’s a more grim take with him wearing a waist coat under his jacket, which is badged on his breast pocket of his accomplishments, mostly wearing this at meetings.

Luke Skywalker

Unlike the sequel trilogy which had him be a miserable man who tried to kill his nephew after sensing his connection to the Dark Side, gave up after his nephew killed his students, ran away to a island and died on his island, Luke here is doing what he was going to do, rebuild the Jedi Order, do right by Obi Wan, Yoda and Anakin. Luke is a Jedi Master, rebuilding the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and gathering hidden Jedi who survived the purge to help him. Luke here is wiser, calm, kind, always there to help those he feels are in need. Luke runs his Jedi Order differently, he allows his students to have relationships, be in touch with their families, and to keep the Jedi from being too involved with politics. He tells the students the stronger their connections to their loved ones are, the stronger their faith is in the light. He feels this is a lesson he understood from the original movies, to have faith with love in those you care for, and to never let your anger get the better of you concerning those you love.

Luke first appears on Coruscant, the last to introduce himself to Finn and Rey, coming off a transport at the Senate to greet them. Luke was the one Finn had been looking for given Finn was almost forced to become Kylo Ren’s student. Taking Finn with him upon sending he has the Force, Luke brings Finn to the Jedi Temple where it’s far more golden, there’s gardens of green, and statues to honour those who died. Luke is kind and listens to Finn, though a little unnerved to realise Kylo Ren is the one who’s after him, Luke is honourable in keeping Finn safe and train him as a Jedi. Though Luke has to see how far Finn is connected to the Force, he believes in him even after Finn struggles to control his emotions in reaching for the lightsaber.

Luke has a healthy relationship with his son, sister and brother in law, teaching his son the importance of patience and compassion, giving advice to Leia on how to best do her job as the Chancellor, and tries his best to assure Han he will save Kylo.

Luke still has his trials here and there with his battles against his nephew, including easing Owen’s anger and fear over the cause of his mother’s death and helping Finn not shut his emotions off from others. Luke does feel hurt by the confirmation Kylo killed his wife, and then killed Leia and Han, trying to control his own rage before he puts it aside to focus on Owen and Finn, but this does have the bad affect of causing Luke and Owen to drift apart a little until Mara and Anakin return to comfort their loved ones, Luke and Owen finally coming to terms with it.

While Luke does get crippled by Snoke it doesn’t stop him from continuing his teachings, showing that even though limping, and despite the hardships, Luke got through in the end to watch the next generation begin to take over, happy his son found peace while also glad he kept Finn from being taken by Kylo, as well as comforted to know Kylo redeemed himself.

Luke, in terms of appearance, doesn’t have a beard, mostly to avoid mockery by Han for being a crazy wizard like Obi Wan, though he has the robes he wore in the sequel trilogy, though he has a glove on his right hand. Luke is a swordsman who, though he lacks his athletic prowess, is still a competent fighter who can take on multiple enemies and come out unscathed.

Leia Solo

Formerly Leia Organa, Leia has become the chancellor of the New Republic, is the wife of Han Solo and the mother of Kylo Ren. Though she’s not in on the action anymore, Leia carries a laser pistol in case, ending up using it on a few Stormtroopers in the first movie. Leia has researched on her birth mother’s diplomatic history as well as all her adopted father Bail did, applying what she learnt to make the New Republic a more safer community though has increased counter measures against what Palpatine made to cause the Jedi to fall and the Empire to rise, but not extreme like we saw in The Mandalorian. Leia has become well beloved for her compassion to prisoners the Rebels took, giving finances to help those affected by the empire and for being a battle hardened Princess.

Leia has had some struggles in trying to stop Empire sympathisers from uprising and her son turning to the Dark Side did leave her devastated but keeps hers faith in him and Luke, the latter of who she trusts will bring Kylo Ren back to the light. Leia has grown close to her brother since discovering they were related, both researching on their mother and Leia did briefly train under him, though mostly in connecting to the Force to be more connected to those she loves, hence she believes Kylo Ren can turn back to the light, feeling his struggle.

Leia first appears on Coruscant, meeting with her husband after he’s rescued Finn, Rey and Po, with Luke by her side, Leia showing compassion to Finn by not arresting him for being a stormtrooper and senses his connection to the Force. She is concerned by him saying he was going to be taken away to be made into a Dark Side Force apprentice like Kylo Ren, leaving her concerned at how much damage has been done to her son. During the First Order’s attack on Coruscant, Leia and Kylo stare at each other, Leia begging her son to come back, for a moment it would seem he is going to but he goes to the Jedi temple, leaving Leia somewhat a little hopeful there’s some good in her son given she could feel him coming back.

Leia dies in the second film with her husband, them both facing their son. Leia tells Kylo she can feel his struggle, urging him to come back to her and Han. Kylo, tearful, tells his mother she is only leading the New Republic down to fall apart and says he has to stop her from doing so. Stabbing her with his lightsaber, Kylo watched as his mother collapsed in his dad’s arms, Leia desperately trying to reach for him. Han wrestles with Kylo but he meets the same fate, though in their dying moments, Leia speaks in her son’s head, telling him she forgives him. Leia dies in Luke’s arms, telling him there’s still good in Kylo, begging him to forgive him. Leia died with Han and was given a hero’s burial on her mother’s home planet, her husband by her side. Luke reveals even after her death, he could feel Leia was there, giving him the comfort he deserved. At the end of the final film, Luke says he can feel Leia is at true rest now that Kylo is back with her, saying goodbye to them all as he leaves to continue training the Jedi.

With the original trilogy trio done with, we come for the trio and villains of the sequel trilogy.

Finn

Different from his role in the films, Finn is a more tougher character, a soldier well trained in guns and melee combat, years of training and being strictly brought up by his family have made Finn a bit more of a quiet and stern character. Disgusted with the massacre of the village, Finn was already thinking of leaving before Kylo Ren sensed he was connected to the Force. Kylo briefly interrogated Finn, the stormtrooper unnerved by Kylo to have him taken away to become a apprentice to Snoke, saying he will bring him comfort and stop the doubts he has. Because he’s connected to the Force, Finn decides to find Luke Skywalker, wanting to redeem himself and stop the First Order, taking Po and BB-8.

On Jakku, Finn is a lot more capable of looking after himself, taking BB-8 and setting up shelter for the night, keeping himself warm enough and goes to the town, a blaster on his side. Finn shows his experience as a soldier by helping Rey fend off some rivals, all of whom don’t have blasters, Finn being a lot more stern. Though Finn did overhear Rey having almost completed her ship, so he first sees her as his chance to get to Luke. He doesn’t lie to her here but he doesn’t tell her the whole truth, telling her he abandoned the First Order and is trying to find Luke Skywalker. Rey is a little weary of him but given she also wants to reach the New Republic, she agrees to help him.

Finn does show his skills as a soldier by taking a few shots of his former allies, giving Rey enough of a chance to turn her ship on and both fly away. Finn is quite respectful to Han Solo, mostly seeing him as a officer than as a man, much to Han’s frustration, and Finn is a little more assured by his friendlier behaviour to talk to him more on simpler terms.

Because of Finn’s tough childhood and the years of training he underwent, connecting to the Force under Luke’s teachings was a lot more difficult for he had unresolved trauma and guilt from his past, hence the lightsaber he tried reach with the Force came to him more violently. yet Luke’s more calming nature and wisdom have him enough room to settle in and train hard, becoming a skilled swordsman and has developed a decent connection to the Force but his past guilt and trauma end up hindering Finn, including his uncertainty of whether he should be with Rey having researched Anakin. Finn has though let go of his more sterner behaviour, being a bit more talkative and is more consumptive of learning from the Jedi.

The second film does give us a more insight in Finn’s past, it’s revealed his family helped the Empire a lot and even had their own business in the Empire which saw many of those under the Empire being run for their money, some dead if they tried standing up to Finn’s family. With the empire’s collapse, Finn’s family had made him join the First Order to bring some dignity back to the family, yet they ended up dead after a few imperials believed they had betrayed them. Finn overcomes his past thanks to his teachings by Luke and moves on with Rey, his newfound hope giving him the strength to fight Kylo Ren and comfort Owen at the climax of the second movie. In the final movie, Finn is more relaxed, he’s wise, hopeful, his connection to the Force is a lot stronger. Finn faces his final enemies in Kylo Ren and Snoke, denting the former over killing his mum and dad and kills the latter. His life as a stormtrooper gone, Finn marries Rey, becoming a Jedi Knight.

Finn was the character I was looking forward to the most in the sequels, him being a former stormtrooper, the trailers having him with a lightsaber, I thought we’d find a interesting story from him, though we didn’t have it. This is how I wish Finn was, and I like to think out there in a different universe he was the main character, John Boyega given what he should’ve had.

Finn looks as how he did in The Force Awakens, though in the sequels he wears a grey brown Jedi robe with a black shirt and trousers with brown boots, Finn wields a blue lightsaber.

Rey

Ahhhhhh, here we go. For those of you who made it so far, you know I’m not having Rey be a Jedi in this version. Here she’s a pilot, a plucky and friendly girl who is quite laid back. You don’t always need the Force to be cool, look at Din or R2D2.

Given Rey was so good at flying the Millennium Falcon, you’d think she’d be the pilot of the trilogy. Here she is a pilot. The backstory Rey has here is her father was a Rebel pilot, retired from it and travelled around the galaxy with his wife and brother and daughter, but after they crashed on Jakku, Rey’s dad was only able to get a one seat ship, the townsmen saying they’d look after Rey and his wife and brother until he came back. He never did, so they began to build a ship during their years on Jakku, Rey even flying their ship with help from her uncle. Though rival scavengers killed her mother and uncle, Rey became a bit harder and kept on going to make her ship and try to find her dad. Rey is still saddened by her family’s deaths but she hopes to salvage them with her dad.

Though she isn’t a Jedi, Rey does have some fight, carrying a laser rifle on her, clubbing or shooting those who try killing her. Rey gains a friendship with Han Solo, who helps her fly a X-wing while she’s at Corasaunt, with her saying this is the closest she’s been to her dad since he left. Rey is willing to help rescue Finn, but Po has to cover her a bit with her being a new pilot in a X-wing in the climax. By the end, Rey feels this is right to do, her father served the Rebel Alliance, joining the New Republic is what she will do.

Rey does develop feelings for Finn during their travels to Coruscant, though its mostly subtle until the sequel, growing deeply worried for him during his nightmares, meeting with him at the Jedi Temple to see how he’s getting on. They grew closer during the New Republic’s battle with the First Order, often flying him on a few missions or meeting with him at the Jedi Temple. The biggest challenge Rey faces is the losses the New Republic are facing and is unsure of the fighting, then is under interrogation by Snoke who reveals her father is dead. Rey is deeply hurt by this and feels she’s got nothing now, her hope of finding her dad is now meaningless and with her fellow soldiers dying around her, she’s not sure if she can keep going. Yet Finn’s determination to keep going and tending to her injuries brings hope back to Rey, who begins her relationship with him.

In the final film, Rey has become a top pilot ace, leading her own squadron, though a bit toughened to be distrusting towards Coris. She does struggle in the Stormtrooper outfit she and Po wear to get to the engines but does get the job done. Together with Finn at the end, Rey has found her place, a pilot, a hero of the New Republic and continuing her father’s legacy.

Rey wears her desert gear in The Force Awakens, x-wing orange suit, then wears a black sleeveless coat with matching trousers, a dark grey shirt with a black and grey arm sleeves in the sequel, a mix of this and her desert gear in the final.

Kylo Ren

Kylo remains the same minus his temper, yet his guilt is still a source of his struggles in these movies, he wishes to be rid of the guilt, killing his mum and dad has him thinking he will be free from this. Kylo’s betrayal is him losing faith in his uncle and mother, believing they are going to bring the New Republic down a path of disaster, the Jedi will fall and he thinks the only way to stop this is to kill his family and have Snoke rule the New Republic.

Kylo killed Mara Jade after she followed him to a meeting with Snoke, her begging him not to go through with this but he still did. Killing his mum and dad brought him even more guilt than ever, with him slowly going crazy from talking to Anakin’s ghost, yet Owen’s mercy and Finn telling him he could’ve advised his mother causes Kylo to turn against Snoke, giving up his life. Unlike the sequels there’s no romance between Kylo and Rey.

Snoke

Snoke appears in the trilogy, he doesn’t die midway, he lives until the end. Snoke is a former Jedi turned Inquisitor who served under Vader but was sceptical of Palpatine, who mostly ruled the Empire with a senate until A New Hope, feeling it was foolish of him to do this so late in his rule. Snoke desires to take over the New Republic and run it by himself, and desires to begin the Sith Knights, believing the Sith will be stronger in number and under his rule they can stop anyone from trying to overthrow him. He succeeded in turning Kylo Ren over but had struggled more with Coris. Snoke here is less skinny, he wears a gold robe but in the final movie he wears a entire suit of darkness with red linings and chest armour. He has a red lightsaber, has Force Lightning.

With the sequel characters done with, I’ll go over the two characters I’ve brought in, Owen and Coris.

Owen

Owen is the son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. Though a bit more stern and untrusting towards others, Owen is a brave and good hearted man who is devoted to his family and the Jedi Order, trained under his dad and mother throughout his childhood. Owen is a master of the lightsaber and a fine acrobat. Owen is a bit untrusting towards Finn in being a former Stormtrooper and worked with Kylo Ren, believing Kylo sent him here to kill him, though Finn being abducted and trying to escape causes Owen to realise Finn is a good guy, finally warming up to him.

Owen is shown to be bitter towards Kylo Ren, believing he killed his mother. He was good friends with Ben growing up but his turn to the Dark Side and the suspicions he has about his mother's murder has made Owen’s own struggle with his hatred and betrayal Ben did to him. This has made him take some brash choices for Kylo Ren, often resulting in him getting into more harm. Despite him being a enemy to the First Order and those with the Dark Side, Owen does show compassion and is fine with talking to them, as shown thanks to Coris being talkative with him even though he’s her prisoner.

Owen was indeed right in believing Kylo killed his mother, and his anger had only made it so Kylo could defeat him, though after breaking down in Finn’s arms, Owen finds some resolve in still having his dad and senses the good in Coris, giving her his trust and with a final talk with his mum and grandad, he gives Kylo mercy. Owen finally has become one at peace with his grief and pain, starting a whole new beginning with Coris.

Owen I think could be played by Sebastian Stan. Owen first wears brownish robes with dark brown trousers and a shirt, once wielded a gold lightsaber, then wields a white one. In the final movie he wears greyish white robes with brown trousers and jumper.

Coris

Coris, a child of Dathomir, was taken in by Kylo Ren after he “saved her” from slavers, teaching her in the Force. Coris was easily found given the Nightsisters were mostly killed by General Grievous, Kylo seeking out a Nightsister due to their own ties to the Force with necromancy, though because of Coris being a orphan living alone, she’s a bit unsure of what to believe, given why she’s more willing to talk to Owen. Coris appears in The Force Awakens at Snoke’s side, yet she joins Kylo Ren and then later joins the New Republic, having learnt of Kylo being the one behind the kidnapping.

Coris is a skilled sword fighter but her more darker connection to the Force is limited to making skeletal puppets which she can only use if she has bones on her, or invisibility. Coris’s relationship with Kylo Ren is of an apprentice and is often viciously told off by him for not improving in her sparring. Coris is submissive to him at first given he saved her, though Owen suspicious of Kylo killing his mother, and then watching him kill Han and Leia has her faith in him rattled. Becoming more braver in standing up to him, she calls for Owen and Finn to help her uncover her past, learning who it is she can trust.

Coris is mostly calm, asking questions which are important to her to learn, but she has an angrier side to her, arguing Kylo torturing Owen and Rey is not how he told her to fight. Because she’s calm, Coris can be quite a kind woman, valuing others lives and is willing to walk the light, joining the Jedi in the end.

Coris dresses in black and purple, has grey skin and has a red lightsaber, yet she ends up getting a gold one by the end, wearing Jedi robes of blue and grey.

You have it, my sequel trilogy rewrite, I hope it didn’t come off as insulting to the cast who took part in the sequels, I didn’t want to write the new characters off, and I hope I gave Han and Leia a more fitting send off. You might be wondering if I’ll ever tackle a post episode 9 rewrite though ATM, I’ll just say Luke is dead by then and the focus is more on the New Jedi Order. Though I could do Mandalorian season 3 rewrite.

Still though, thank you my Padawan for letting me write for your website again. May the Force Be With You, Media Man.

Media Man: And you my friend. Special thanks to him for writing this two-part essay and I hope you found it enjoyable to read. :) Feel free to share your thoughts down below in the comments.