Nine episodes, 
58 lead actors, 42 years, and 35 Academy Award nominations. Add to that numerous stand-alone stories in film, television, books, and comics. The vision of creator George Lucas that became the Star Wars franchise came to an end (of sorts) with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This vision has arguably done more to shape popular culture than any other series of films to ever come out of Hollywood. This month, Eve and I joined millions of others to witness the completion of this epic space opera. Unlike the majority of them, though, we took notes, applied a scriptural worldview, and recorded our thoughts for your consideration.
The Rise of Skywalker brings Rey to the conclusion of her journey of self-discovery. Despite the lies and manipulation of evil forces, she strives to figure out who she is, both on a personal and genealogical level. While Rey completes her journey of discovery, Poe, Fin, and the rest of the rebellion must stand against an enemy force unlike any they have ever seen before. Their ultimate victory depends not only on their skill but on their common cause.
Join Eve and me as we discuss The Rise of Skywalker and how it tackles the questions of identity, isolation, manipulation, and how to conclude 43 years’ worth of stories.
Don’t forget to check out PluggedIn.com’s review of The Rise of Skywalker.
Check out the Christian Podcast Communities contest!
Don’t miss the Christian Podcast Community Theology Throw Down that continues a theme discussion from our episode on Harriet.
First Impressions
Let’s face it. Not all the movies that came before The Rise of Skywalker have been great cinema. Many felt that the movie that came before this one, The Last Jedi, was pretty bad. The Phantom Menace was infamously panned by critics and fans alike. We are happy to report that director J. J. Abrams did a really good job wrapping up the third trilogy of the Skywalker saga. He could probably have turned this into two or three movies, thanks in part to all the loose ends that needed tying and plots that needed fulfillment.
Eminent composer John Williams returns to score this last entry in the Skywalker story, and the movie would not have been the same without his contribution. Probably more than any other franchise, a large part of Star Wars’ identity is found in its music. Not only did he bring his unique skill and Star Wars flavor to The Rise of Skywalker, but he skillfully touched on musical themes for many of the film’s predecessors. The result is a level of satisfaction that you won’t get anywhere else.
The homage elements don’t stop with the music, however. There are several Star Wars specific tropes that can be seen in every film in the franchise, and the eagle-eyed viewer can find them all here. The dismemberment of an arm? Check? Bad feelings? Check. Planet killing weapons? We’ve got … a few. Abrams knew he had to stay true to the spirit and content of all the movies that came before, and he did a remarkable job fitting everything in.
J. J. Abrams spent a not-insignificant amount of time in the movie going back to answer questions and patch plots of the previous movies, making a herculean effort to deliver a rosetta stone-like offering that provided answers to audiences questions. The result was a satisfying conclusion, but it might have taken time from the movie that could have been better used developing and delivering on the plot of this movie and the characters of this trilogy.
If you have not yet seen the movie, and do not want to be exposed to any spoilers regarding plot twists and character reveals, please stop here, go see the movie, and come back and finish listening/reading. From this point on, Eve and I will be discussing elements of the movie that are likely to spoil the surprises woven throughout the movie.
A Long Time Ago, In a Theater Far, Far Away…
The Skywalker saga was launched in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope. Over the next 42 years, it grew into a story told through nine total movies. When A New Hope was released, there was no Marvel-Cinematic-Universe-quality bible that laid out the entire plot, defining the people, places, and things that would be needed over the decades to come. Because of this, continuity has been much more challenging to maintain throughout the tale of the Skywalkers. Despite this challenge, Abrams delivered on many satisfying conclusions.
Like so many films before it, The Rise of Skywalker contrives a McGuffin, or “an object or device in a movie or a book that serves merely as a trigger for the plot.” Seeking after it drove the plot for the first half of the movie, but the characters got to where and when they needed despite the device being all but destroyed.
For Christians, we are much more MCU than Star Wars. While Lucas may not even have conceived of the final battle between Darth Sideous and Rey, and the spirits of their progenitors, we have a book that details not only the final battle between God and Satan, but we know the outcome. It is all laid out for us in the Word of God, a book with which we should all strive to be as familiar as we can. It has all the answers we need to live the life that God intends for us. Make an effort to study the Word daily and you will find yourself lifted in ways you never expected.
Even still, there is a sense with this most recent trilogy that the movies exist not to serve the story but to generate profit. It’s not that it’s a bad thing to make money, by any means, but the original trilogy told a story first and made money because people appreciated it. This latest trilogy seemed to be Disney trying to cash in on the Star Wars property first, with the story coming second.
First, Know Thyself…
The great mystery of the third trilogy has been a question of who Rey was in the grand scheme of the Skywalker saga. She grew up as an orphan and a scavenger on the desert world of Jakku, barely able to remember her parents. The more she stumbled into the machinations of the rebellion, the First Order, and the Force, the more questions she had about her true identity. Contrastly, Ben Solo was a man who knew his parents and trained under his uncle, yet decided that he was not who they wanted him to be. He struck out and joined the enemy, changing his name to Kylo Ren and eventually leading the force dedicated to hunting down his mother and crushing the rebellion she leads.
In The Rise of Skywalker, we learn that Rey is the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (a.k.a. Darth Sidious). It is a convenient way to explain why it is she is so strong in the force but is a twist for which no hints or indications are provided before the reveal. She is also one half of a “force dyad” with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, which explains the weird way the two have been communicating across distances. They are also BOTH the Skywalker to which the title refers. In the end, Rey convinces Ben to come back to the light side of the force. As he does, he embraces the philosophy of both his mother and uncle, both of whom were Skywalkers. In the final scene, Rey claims the Skywalker name, providing a way for both the name and the Jedi to live on through her.
Identity plays an important role in the stories of Rey and Ben, yet to us and our brothers and sisters in Christ, it is far more important.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ:
To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (1 Peter 1:1-2)
When Peter wrote his letter to all the Christians of the early first century, he started by reminding them—and us—that our identity is in Christ first and foremost. We were chosen by God, sanctified by the Spirit, and paid for by the blood of Christ. There should be no doubt for us, no vacillation between the dark side and the light side. We are not of this world, but are exiles, living in a strange land and looking forward to, at the time of God’s choosing, going home to join him. Rey may have been the granddaughter of the single most evil person in the history of the galaxy, but even that would not matter were she washed by the blood of Christ. There is nothing in our past that could ever hope to stand before the will of God once He has chosen us.
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
The identity that we might claim in the world is ephemeral, unable to anchor us. Without Christ, we are adrift, forgetting who we even are. When we find our identity in Christ, we are anchored to an immovable bedrock.
That’s How We Won
One of the most repeated sentiments in The Rise of Skywalker is that the way the Empire and the First Order win is by convincing their enemies that they are alone. People will not oppose them because they have been convinced that they are the only ones who want to. The First Order made it a point to “harvest” children, separating families, to fill out their military rank and file. Much like the Third Reich upon which they are based, they encourage families and friends to turn on each other in favor of First Order rule. They accomplish this through indoctrination into ideals that are contrary to that of family and faith. Even if someone can’t be turned to work for them, they can be beaten down and convinced they’re alone.
One of the most chill-inducing scenes in the movie is at the final battle when all appears to be lost, and the Rebel fleet is being soundly trounced by Palpatine’s forces. Poe had earlier sent Lando Calrissian to seek help among the common pilots and people, and it seemed like no one would answer the call. Then, at the last moment, the Millennium Falcon returns and is quickly followed by what seems to be thousands of ships; all people who have decided enough is enough. When Palpatine’s officer asks for a report on the enemy navy, a junior officer replies, “That’s not a navy sir. It’s just … people.”
As Christians, we may feel outnumbered and bullied by the forces of evil. We may sometimes even feel alone in our struggles. Yet, we are not. We have hundreds of brothers and sisters, of every ethnicity and every nation, who desire to do the Word of God:
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
It is the enemy that has convinced us that we are isolated and alone, with no one to reach out to for help. Even if we are, actually, physically, alone, we are not!
Yet I am always with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me up in glory. (Psalm 73:23-24)
Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
Our strength comes from Christ, our path is lit by the Word. We are never, ever alone. We are never, ever truly defeated.
Lies, Lies, and More Lies
Just as Palpatine sought to win by convincing his opponents that they were alone in their will to resist, everything else that came out of his mouth was either a lie or a half-truth dedicated to manipulating people into doing his will. He would promise the galaxy (literally) to get people to do what he wanted. If you could not serve his will, then you would be destroyed. In this way, he was very much like Satan.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 4:8)
It may seem obvious in the sense of The Rise of Skywalker but it does serve to remind us:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Palpatine promised anything and everything that he could, but the only final sure thing was that buying into his lies was a sure path to damnation.
Conclusion
The story of the Skywalkers may be a story that has been told, one way or another, many times in the history of man. It is a story of good and evil, and light and dark. These are concepts that we can latch on it. We root for the good and cringe when the bad, however temporarily, succeeds. This is because of how God made us. We are imbued with an innate passion to see good triumph over evil. Yet, as a people, we have been convinced to redefine what good is. We have decided that good and evil are not real and that each person may have their own personal “good” and “evil.” Worse, we are told that it is actually “hate” to insist that our good and evil should be the good and evil which our neighbors also should subscribe to.
The Rise of Skywalker, and the rest of the Skywalker Saga, helps to remind us that there is a true, timeless definition of good and evil. For more than four decades, the Empire and the Sith have informed and molded our ideas of evil. The Jedi and the Rebellion have helped us understand what nobility and goodness are. Yet both of these are simply telling us what we already know, deep down inside. Good will triumph over evil. The liar will fall victim to the consequences of his actions, and justice will prevail. What’s more, we can KNOW this, because we have the book upon which all reality is built: the Bible. In it, we can find the beginning and the end—the Alpha and the Omega. We can find every answer necessary to live out our story the way that God intends.
And we don’t even need J. J. Abrams to direct it.
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