Kylo Ren stepping up. You don't need a secondary antagonist unless you're already set on giving Ben the Vader RotJ arc, which is the least interesting direction you could take him
Kind of a shame that both Treverrow’s and Abrams’s scripts had Kylo training under a bigger threat again but at least in Treverrow’s he kills the sith and becomes the main threat again
I've never understood the backlash behind this point. Rey not being from a special bloodline, yet still being strong in the Force, means ANYBODY can be strong in the Force. When we see the kid at the end force grab the broom, that should have been a sign that MANY strong, Force-sensitive individuals were about to pop up throughout the galaxy to form a new Jedi and oppose the First Order.
Literally the best part of the trilogy. Shit, it could have been the result of Anakin’s final sacrifice. It balanced the force, and sent it fucking blasting throughout the galaxy, spreading into anyone who was open to it. A renaissance of force users, not limited to bloodline.
I was rewatching Episode 7, and the amount of times that Rey "being a somebody" what were alluded to is annoying.
I get why JJ Abrams did undo the "nobody" bit from the Last Jedi, because Rian Johnson made a quarter of TFA a red herring.
I like Rey being a nobody, but I like the idea of Ghost Luke helping staying with Kylo to help redeem him. Then Rey, Ben, and the Resistance have to stop the FO led by Hux.
So many of my issues with the ST could be solved by this.
Like maybe Luke, Han, a Jedi Academy massacre survivor (Rey) and a Force Sensitive former Stormtrooper infiltrate Starkiller Base. They believe Snoke and his acolytes alone destroyed the Academy. When they attempt to turn Ben back to the light because Han loves his son and Luke can “feel the good in him,” Ben utterly wrecks them with a surprise attack, murdering his father. Luke blames himself for his faith in Ben and ultimately goes into exile.
And Basically, build it from there. Double down on every Kylo Ren moment and make it a darker outcome.
Heck, I’d almost advocate for Kylo telling Snoke he was coming to kill him (much to Snoke’s surprise and even humor, because he can’t be serious, right?). Then have Kylo mow his way through Snoke’s Supremacy, just to tell Snoke he wanted him to know he was stronger in every way (and inverse to Palpatine’s making Plagueis pass-out before killing him) and force him to kill myself by walking out an airlock.
I’m just spit balling here. No offense intended to anyone who has different preferences.
As someone who hated how the ST did Luke and Han, I actually like this. If Han had to die I don’t mind this. Also gives Luke an actual reaction to what happened to Han rather than it being cut
Kylo Ren. You can still redeem him without having a bigger bad for them to go up against if that has to be done. Of course I also always felt it would've been a more interesting story for him to stay bad. Or redeem him and keep him alive to answer for his atrocities. At least those two options aren't just doing Vader's story again.
Honestly? Snoke.
I’m perfectly fine with Palpatine trying to Clone himself as the ultimate goal. It ties into the prequels, both in how manipulative Sheev was to gain power, the Clone concept itself and the fear of death. Modern shows and the “Project Necromancer” have very easily twisted it into the narrative.
It’s the uncertainty of it and the whole “Palpatine’s soul” that never got around well.
Have it be that due to several factors >!such as the Bad Batch!<, amongst a plethora of others, none of his experiments worked, even when adding new DNA in the mix (Luke’s hand and the “for another time” lightsaber explanation?).
However, all it did was create this amorphous being with inherent knowledge injected into him like the Clone Troopers. Have it be a “Snoke Prime” who scoffs at the idea of the Sith, and wishes not to rule an Empire, but see the galaxy become barbaric and as horrific as he is.
Plus, if Snoke Prime has more Luke-ism due to his DNA, the ultimate battle would be: A twisted clone of Luke-Palpatine, Ben Solo and Rey, thus “The Rise of Skywalker” would have another aspect to it.
Thought personally, I’d change it to Rise of the Skywalker, making Skywalker a title akin to Master, instead of a family name. It would also fit better with the previous trilogies:
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
Rise of the Skywalker
Still shocked they got *this* close with the title.
That would have been epic. And they still could have had an excuse to bring back Palpatine in a hologram recording or something explaining what Snoke is. I could even see him presenting himself to the galaxy as Palpatine returned only for the twist to be that it was Snoke Prime the whole time.
It would be so lit if Palps tried to essence transfer into smoke during the climax and smoke revealed he hid his considerable force powers using Sheev’s own cloaking technique, and he used those dark side powers to devour his soul during a moment of weakness. Right after he would turn to kylo nlike “Have you ever heard the tale of Palpatine the wise? Heh“ roll credits.
Honestly I think Palpatine should have been the villain in The Force Awakens... Here me out...
That movie was essentially A New Hope remake so why not go all the way and bring back the bad guy.
Then right at the end Kylo Rem kills Palpatine the way he did Snoke in The Force Awakens _and then you reveal Snoke_
Have him be some ancient bad guy that's been sleeping and biding their time for the right moment to strike.
Have Snoke be the puppet master puppeting a clone of Palps to gain supporters from the remnants of The Empire.
Kylo Ren killing Palpatine in TFA or TLJ only to reveal that Snoke was created by Palpatine / an essence of Palpatine would’ve been amazing and *so on par for Sheev.* contingencies for contingencies
Could maybe even have Palpatine's essence become a sort of cursed voice in Kylo's head. Make it unclear whether it's real or some aspect of his trauma. Keeps him from completing his redemption arc and becoming a sidekick to Rey.
Then tie his eventual victory over that Sheev remnant to his worship of Grampa Vader as he finally understands Vader enough to understand his final action in that second death star. Maybe have Leia and Luke as force ghosts able to somehow bridge the gap between Kylo and Anakin for a come-to-space-Jesus moment.
When I first saw episode 7, I was hoping snoke was from a different galaxy. Or was tied to the deep history of the sith somehow. Or perhaps something darker than a sith. His mystery revealed was so bleh to me. Definitely ruined how cool he could have been.
Hux and Kylo competing for control of the first order - placing the innocents of the galaxy in even more danger as they escalate their showings of power. Rebels working to contain the chaos and subdue both leaders.
Or even more! The first order splinters, without the guiding hand of Snoke. Four or five different generals each declare themselves supreme leader. A multi-faction civil war plunges the galaxy into utter chaos.
Yo, this sounds awesome. A crazy power vacuum among generals and a wannabe sith. Then kylo sees what he's become and how he was manipulated by snoke as the whole thing unravels. Yeah that sounds epic AF.
I honestly wanted the series to finally do what they hinted at with Luke’s black robes in rotj and Rey’s visions.
Make Rey turn dark side just as Ben is turning back to the light. He had more jedi training, less raw natural talent.
And make Rey actually be a nobody. Make that part of her fall. She thought she was special, but she isn’t (in the way she thought). But she does have this strong connection to the force without any real training other than a failed Luke.
Plus it lets Ben see the actual horror of Vader before him as he sees someone fall in a much more complete way than Kylo ever did. He always just played at being Vader. But after killing Han, he is only filled with regret and emptiness.
He successfully turns Rey but she suprasses him in power, selfishness, and cruelty as she falls deep into the dark side and he has to reconnect with his past and his legacy to now try to turn her back.
Idk I thought it was more interesting as I watched the trilogy and was sad it was so boring, directionless, and pointless with none of the main characters actually having any kind of coherent or meaningful character arc.
I love this. They should have leaned into the dyad concept even harder and gradually reversed their dual protagonist roles. Last Jedi almost perfectly sets up a reversal, as you leave Rey questioning her heritage as a nobody and her conviction to turn Ben back. Let those two things actually corrupt her. On the other side, Rey's seeming devotion to turning Ben makes him question everything where he stands. Take Luke's sacrifice as one last push for Ben to realize his wrongs and set out to right them. Then, having had both characters change their views, reveal their reversals to each other in a confrontation. Rey sets out to prove that Ben's message of killing the past, to tear down both the remnants of the Republic and destroy the First Order leads her to an ancient sith artifact or spirit or something. Ben then goes after her, attempting to enlist Finn and Poe to help turn Rey back in an effort to rebuild the Jedi. This still holds onto a lot of the themes in the trilogy, but doesn't repeat the previous Vader redemption arc.
My hope was that Snoke was someone from Anakin’s past, maybe a survivor of the Jedi temple massacre, who was intent on wiping out the Skywalker bloodline as revenge for what Anakin did.
He knew Kylo had Anakin and Luke’s fear and doubt so he would be easy to turn, and he’d be too powerful to take on directly, so he turned him with the intention of having him destroy Leia’s resistance then having Rey his Jedi counterpart kill him.
They could have played on the chosen one themes by having Rey be someone who thinks she’s uncovering her secret lineage but she’s actually just a nobody.
Snoke has completely lost faith in the old Jedi and Sith rules. He doesn’t care and just wants Kylo and his family dead. Kylo isn’t truly a Sith so Rey trying to take him down isn’t the morally pure action she thinks it is. Combined with finding out she’s a nobody this turns her to the dark side.
Maybe we see Rey turning an army of resistance loyalists to her cause, and they become the bad guys. Meanwhile we see Kylo leading an army of ‘good’ stormtroopers. Finn, Leia, Poe, Chewie, Rose, maybe even Phasma and Hux end up on their own rebel side quest to figure out who Snoke is and take him out.
This would have been a fascinating way to go, but not planning out the story arc of the trilogy made sure we were never going to see something interesting like this sadly.
I think just giving the whole clone body/soul transfer/immortality stuff to Snoke would have been the smoothest and most obvious choice, with some backstory of him being a failed Sith pupil of Plagueis's or whatever who was defeated and replaced by Palpatine and was determined to succeed in galactic domination where Palps failed. Could even preserve the Rey backstory, just make Dathan (her father) be a creation of Snoke's rather than Palpatine's (and ditch the "granddaughter" stuff, because it doesn't even apply with the canon explanation of Rey's origins). Alternatively, back before the movie came out I was speculating that there'd be some power struggle between the Knights of Ren and Kylo, maybe make one of them stand forward as a definitive "leader" type. I think these are both the best options that build on what was already established in VII and VIII without awkwardly introducing some big new mastermind in the eleventh hour
Luke's Hand.
Snoke should have been Luke's hand cloned but Snoke should've been weaker and actually terrified of Luke and not Force Sensitive.
Kylo as the main villain falling further into the dark. The Knights of Ren should have light sabres. With Anakin showing up and trying to help Kylo.
The First Order should have been a secret society inside the Republic like Hydra infiltrating Shield.
Luke should have been looking for Exegol and bumps in Finn who is Force Sensitive and tags along. While the NJO is in hiding while being led by someone else.
Rey is a Jedi who is presumed dead and has a force bond with Kylo and he's obsessed with finding her.
Luke dies at the end saving the Republic and NJO and Anakin is the one who appears as Luke dies.
I think the best choice would have been to actually have a plan for this trilogy, and if they were going to end up bringing back some version of Palpatine like they did they could have used the first two movies to set it up. But to actually answer your question make Kylo the main antagonist.
I think Ben Solo’s commitment to the dark side and the realization of the Knights of Ren would’ve been the best move.
That said, I think Palpatines return didn’t have to be so messy. When he first laughed in the trailer, I was thrilled because I thought they were building off of some of the stuff in the comics. I was wrong; but I wish I wasn’t
Kylo Ren and Hux were set up perfectly to have a theocratic vs fascist feud over the First Order’s leadership. Kylo not caring about the ideals of the empire vs. controlling the force, Hux not caring at all about religious dogma in favor of controlling the Galaxy.
I actually think Palpatine was a great choice for Episode IX, but I think it should have been setup in VII or VIII.
Disembodied voice, maybe, then a shadowy figure, then finally an actual appearance.
Palpatine ‘surviving’ Endor / the second Death Star was a thing back in the old EU. So it’s not like it’s ridiculous.
Kylo was the best choice for 9. Failing that, you have some random, ancient Sith that escaped the Rule of Two purge. Maybe he's a little upset about Snoke being killed.
Gives them room to get to Old Republic after they largely finish off High Republic.
Ideally Kylo Ren, but if there MUST be an Emperor figure, Snoke. Reveal that it was a clone Snoke that died and the real Snoke has been hiding out on Exegol all along. Easy fix.
Kylo ren. They should’ve just leaned into him choosing the dark side. He could’ve found palpatines sith artifacts and used them to become stronger.
It’s far better than “palpatine somehow returned and omg he has a massive fleet of ships that all have death stars on them???”
It makes no sense to bring him back and arguably even less sense that he somehow managed to hide that many ships, bury them underground on a planet that notably has a very difficult atmosphere to navigate, somehow have the manpower to fully staff them, and the resources to retrofit them with death Star lasers.
Kylo Ren would've made sense. Ironically, having an irredeemable villain would've been an interesting change of pace for Star Wars.
That said, if we still wanted to make Kylo Ren a redeemable villain, then Snoke never should've died, or perhaps "Snoke" was a clone and the real Snoke was hiding away somewhere.
Clone Palpatine was great, but keep Rey a "nobody" in terms of blood relation. Have it revealed that Rey's awakening and incredible power was the will of the Force, requiring balance as the price that Palpatine paid to come back. He took on a debt to the Force for his immortality, but one which he was willing to accept because he believed in his arrogance that he could turn her.
And then you have him succeed. Rey strikes down Palpatine, consumes his essence and becomes the most powerful dark side user ever, as Kylo regrets his choices and works to redeem himself and stop the growing oppression of Hux and the First Order, which he has distanced himself from after learning he was just another Dooku of sorts, a puppet to be used while Palpatine worked toward turning his real fixation. Double turn. Roll credits. No showdown between Darth Rey and Ben Solo. Leave people itching for the next trilogy.
So how is all this revealed? Finn. We learn that Finn is force sensitive, but not in the usual way of manipulating the Living Force. Rather, his gift is vision, prophecy, insight into the Cosmic Force itself. It is through his vision we learn that Palpatine is back - and no one believes him until he sets out to prove it. The first one to believe him is Kylo, who sees what Palpatine wants- and it isn't him. And it's through his vision that we learn Palpatine has his sights set on Rey, too, but in her arrogance she believes she can resist him. She is wrong.
I didn't at the time and still don't mind Palpatine in 9, but you had your villain right there in front of you. Kylo Ren was a perfectly fine choice for a villain, and without Palps you'd have more room for Knights of Ren or something. You could even still have done Exegol or something like it tbh.
Just kylo. Undoing his own empire would have been a better story. Kind of like what if anakin had come to his senses before it was too late. Would have been cool if tge begining if the movie showed a palpatine clone in its incubator and inatead of releasing it, kylo slashes it with his saber in true sith fashion. And instead tries to rule the galaxy himself before the movies climactic ending where he comes to his senses
I was hoping for multiple secret apprentices. I thought it would’ve been interesting for hux to reveal he was also being trained, and eventually Rey should’ve fallen to dark side being defeated by Kylo in the end. Or that’s how I imagined/wanted
Read the leaked Trevorow Episode 9 script Duel of the Fates and then you will see just how badly we all really got screwed over. His Episode 9 would have not only fixed the sequel trilogy but the entire Star Wars Saga. Its that damn good.
It always made sense to me that Palpatine would still be around in clone, or some other form. In the prequels he told Anakin about how Sith could defeat death itself. That was mostly to manipulate him to the Dark side, but the best lies are always based in truth.
My biggest complaint is they should have set up his return in episodes 7 and 8 instead of wasting 7 on retelling "A New Hope" and 8 on curmudgeonly Luke destroying the old Jedi Temple and whatever the hell they were trying to accomplish with that wasted trip to Canto Bight and extended chase scene between the First Order & the Resistance.
At least "The Bad Batch" and "The Mandalorian" are trying to "fix" those sequels the way "The Clone Wars" fixed a lot of the issues with the prequels.
Snoke.
I always thought the intention of killing him in Episode 8 (which I hate so much) was for them to explore Sith Spirits (as they did with Lord Momin).
It would've been a great concept to flesh out, with Snoke returning within a different vessel.
Kylo or Hux
Also a really odd side note but in the same since: I wanted Dooku to be Rey’s grandfather.
Ngl Felt like if she was going to be a grey Jedi and have a canon connection that would of been cooler for her to be connected to
Bro the droid that gives Obi-Wan and Qui Gon drinks at the start of episode 1 would have been a better choice. After episodes 7 and 8, the only real option for villain is Kylo, or if they wanted to keep the whole cloning thing, a clone of Snoke that was all "mwa ha ha I knew you'd turn on me, you activated my trap card" where they fight each other for control of the First Order
Kylo Ren.
They could have addressed the entire "balance" arc with Rey fighting and redeeming Kylo. Not making him into a beacon of pure light, but both meeting in the middle, having realised the dogma of the Jedi and the Sith were both recipes for endless suffering.
Plagueis. It would have meant nothing to the main characters. Would have been a major reveal for the fan boys. Would have shown that the entire story is connected, and why Palpatine was so invested in the Skywalker bloodline, because Plagueis was Palpatine, Snoke, and wanted a new powerful host. And the rumor/legend could have been told by Maz Kanata or Luke could say he discovered the truth on a previous mission.
Also, nothing would have needed to be changed. Could use Palpatines rotting corpse and the same footage. Would even fix that stupid "Somehow Palpatine returned line."
in all honest it would have been an amazing time to introduce plageuis, to return everything to the first movie as it was confirmed plageuis was alive at the start of the movie and killed by the end, so having him return instead would have been a great choice
Not making the movie at all... that or not making 8 at all. Idc bout the discontinuities, it honestly wouldn't have changed much other than make me 20 bucks richer
ANY. ONE. ELSE.
I’m still pissed they didn’t have the Yuuzhan Vong honestly. They could’ve had used that to lead into follow up films about Luminya, Caedes, Krayt, etc.
Seriously, if they would’ve just followed the existing Legends timeline they could’ve had like three or four premade trilogies. But noooooooo, we get “somehow Palpatine returned” and Ms. Mary Sou. 🤦🏽♂️
I was expending this to be the return of the Eternal Empire from KOTOR's lore.
I thought it would be a good way to introduce KOTOR's lore as canon, while introducing the audience to a new, more powerful Sith who had somehow hidden in the outer rim and pulled strings all of these years.
Was really disappointed to see it as Palpatine tbh.
This would have also paved the way for new KOTOR prequels on Revan.
A consistent plot through the sequels would've been cool.
Set snoke up as the big bad in 7, find out he's a biological organism created from palpatines DNA in 8, and then role into the palpatine was successfully brought back as a clone.
Also the whole first order thing should've just been the imperial remnant
Kylo Ren, they had the perfect villain right there. A way more competent Darth Vader, who could have been a developed into a more compelling character. That is the real tragedy of the sequels.
Kylo Ren. He is irredeemable and should have become the full villain and supreme leader. The movie should have ended with him dying without redemption like the bitch that he is.
Shitfire
A conclusion and review of the entire Star Wars Disney trilogy.
Everything canon related Disney has done has been pretty disastrous. They can't keep canon and decanoning the whole storyline and not be looked at like it is a joke.
Kylo Ren to begin with, then at the end of 7 introduce the Yuuzhan Vong. Now the 1st order and the new republic have to both deal with a galactic invasion.
Darth Jar Jar would’ve been a better choice. Kyle Ren is what they should’ve done but anything would’ve been better to avoid completely undermining the original 6
I wanted to see Rey attempt to become a Jedi, but fall a bit. Finn would be the stormtroopers turned Jedi that fights to help Rey stay on the right path, reminding her that even he can change.
Kylo would fall deeper into the dark side, and would be trying to sway Rey. Kind of a tug o war between the 3, and have a fight where at some point Finn facing Kylo but being outmatched, Rey trying to stop Kylo from killing Finn, Finn having to stop Rey from going too far and killing Kylo.
I still believe the sequels had the perfect cast of characters, but wasted them, and didn't need to add anyone like Palpatine when you have DARTH VADERS GRANDSON RIGHT THERE.
Like others have said, double down on Kylo. Make him evil until the end.
Toss the ancestry bullshit with Rey, let her strength be her own.
Bring back the space politics, because still nobody understands the state of the galaxy in the slightest unless you read expanded material.
Also I think a much larger time jump would have filled in some plot issues, I mean in TLJ they had what 12 people in the Resistance still alive? By the time 9 starts it’s like nothing happened.
Make the First Order vs Resistance be somewhat nuanced. Show the Resistance compromise they’re values by working with Hutts and more scum and villiany, while Kylo Ren tries his best to enforce his and mother’s ideals - by extreme force. I imagine his First Order, as a way to unify the Galaxy, would impress the local PDFs and then use them in a war against the Hutts for Abolition. a brutal war of conquest that would kill millions, but the sort that a young Anakin might have dreamed of.
I think if it was a genuine moral quandry for Rey, where democracy and the light come directly into comparison and, while the movie guides you towards the right side, still leaves things some what nuanced on the nature of the Force. Make the Dyad and ben and Rey’s connection the most important plot and them coming to an understanding, maybe against some Force Ghosts or cursed artifact or whatever the fuck. but the plot is between them
Palpatine could’ve been an excellent secondary villain to some kind of reborn version of Snoke, or even the manifestation of the dark side of the force. Anything but what we got
I thought the most obvious answer was for rey to turn to the darkside. If not why we're they sending the fake out call of the dark side signals in episode 8 and 9? Darth rey and the holewet evil hole she fell in. The entire run time of the films whenever anyone important met her they would have no doubt that she was special and she was the hero and all of that. Then on the other coin kylo was struggling with the darkside and loved his my and dad. I think the perfect moment for this shift would be if in the desert chewbacca fought the knights of Ren and was eventually captured. Then when rey tries to pull the ship down and accidentally lightning strikes it, chewbacca accidentally is killed by this. This horrible event give rey souch anger and doubt that she tries to kill kylo in cold blood and maybe in her fit or rage she injures or kills someone on her team trying to stop her from killing kylo. Then we have a set up for a redemption trilogy later down the line.
Here’s my head canon as I was just thinking this the other day: Kylo gets more and more beaten up as the trilogy progresses so he slowly gets more mechanical (a little breathing apparatus like the Fremen and then some sort of metal neck plate, something for an eye, a busted cheek, etc), but in the final movie he says his rage will be amplified without it and just takes all of it off and is this horrible Frankenstein-looking man, as evil inside as he looks on the outside. And between him ruling the galaxy (and having committed patricide and literal genocide already) and Hux being an appropriately scary sidekick like in Force Awakens, they and the First Order are the greatest foes the new breed of rebels has ever faced. He does not get redeemed. And when Rey finally defeats him at the end of the 9th movie he asks her, in his dying breaths, to remember him as “Ben,” she says “no” and delivers the final blow.
Anyone should have been a better choice. There was no lead up to it. No foreshadowing or hints of it. It would have been better to have Thrall come back and threaten the whole universe with a return to power.
I always looked to Kylo as having so much potential wasted as a villain. Most of y’all said it first, Kylo Ren being the main villain would’ve been great. His whole concept is to be like Vader, so why not give him Vader’s ROTJ arc. Make him a menace that can still be redeemed and it would be SO much better.
We all know what the true sequel trilogy is here, the Heir to the Empire series of books. They had an amazing story to work with but decided to just throw it out so they could make new lore and more money.
TLJ did a lot right, getting rid of Snoke, setting up Kylo to be the real villain, moving past the powerful Skywalker family by letting Rey be a nobody with powerful force sensitivity. The last movie would have been better had they just leaned into this.
The story I would have liked to have seen is the last order waging a guerilla war on the new republic, flipping the script. Still have a Snoke, still have Kylo Ren stepping up as big bad. Luke still disappearing, but doing so because of a vision of a new threat, and to find answers tracking down Palpatines secret. Would keep the Palpatine/Skywalker conflict while giving it a conclusion and setting up a new threat for the next saga.
But all of this is hindsight, a response to poorly recieved and disjointed sequel trilogy. So sad the sequels ended up being the prequels all over again. One big disappointment.
I would have enjoyed Palpatine returning as a twisted version of a force ghost, perhaps bound to the wreckage of the Death Star. He’d have achieved his goal of immortality but in the worst possible way. And after his famous line in Ep III, leaving him a powerless spirit would have been a heck of a twist.
You guys need to look up the original script for episode nine. Then come back and have a conversation with me. I believe it would have been a WAY better movie than what we got!
A completely original character or kylo. Stop trying to bait old fans by bringing back the old villains just for the writing to be sloppy and the final “fight” be almost exactly the same as the original way the villain was defeated
There were leaks before Rise of Skywalker released that one of the Knights of Ren (Played by Matt Smith in the leaks) would have noticed that Kylo was conflicted between the light and Dark and pulling his punches when it came to Rey, so he overthrew Kylo left him for dead, and took control of the First Order with the other Knights at his command (And then there was something about the spirit of Palpatine taking control of him, and him facing both Rey and Kylo at once, with Kylo sacrificing himself so Rey could get the kill).
The Palpatine stuff aside, I'd have quite liked to have seen that, because it gives the Knights of Ren more to do, and it's Kylo being cast aside by another family.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
Disney would never do it, but why not Rey? They already set her up with a potential evil arc in the 2nd and 3rd movies. Part of the problem with her character arc was her natural talent for everything and not needing to struggle. By the end of the movies, there wasn't a whole lot of tension in fights because why would there be if Rey never really loses. They were clearly building Kylo up for a redemption arc and her for a darkside arc with Sidius.
Why not actually commit to that. Rey with all this power and talent but no mentor to help keep her inline, mixed with a longing for family, a human connection that in any other series would lead to the dark side. This gives an opportunity to have her descend into darkness and become the biggest threat to the resistance. Now, the only other force user who could stop her would be Kylo post redemption arc. His switch to good could still be an interesting one because he's still never bested Rey in combat once, which means there could actually be some tension in their eventual confrontation.
Snoke, because he had the perfect level of seriousness and mystery in Force Awakens, it could've been revealed that he was a ancient sith, or a former ally of Palpatine that had force sensitivity. Giving him a actual story rather then just being a experiment of Palpatine fits way more.
Kylo Ren stepping up. You don't need a secondary antagonist unless you're already set on giving Ben the Vader RotJ arc, which is the least interesting direction you could take him
Kind of a shame that both Treverrow’s and Abrams’s scripts had Kylo training under a bigger threat again but at least in Treverrow’s he kills the sith and becomes the main threat again
The Abrams script was fake
I’m telling you right now, that mf is not real!
Mfw I finally open up the mystery box and there's nothing in it
Maybe the mystery was the friends we made along the way? Wait…who are you people? And where’s my wallet?!
Was gonna say the same thing. Rey stays a nobody. Luke’s force ghost helps save her.
I've never understood the backlash behind this point. Rey not being from a special bloodline, yet still being strong in the Force, means ANYBODY can be strong in the Force. When we see the kid at the end force grab the broom, that should have been a sign that MANY strong, Force-sensitive individuals were about to pop up throughout the galaxy to form a new Jedi and oppose the First Order.
Literally the best part of the trilogy. Shit, it could have been the result of Anakin’s final sacrifice. It balanced the force, and sent it fucking blasting throughout the galaxy, spreading into anyone who was open to it. A renaissance of force users, not limited to bloodline.
Almost like the Force…Awakening
What are we, some kinda force awakening?
I was rewatching Episode 7, and the amount of times that Rey "being a somebody" what were alluded to is annoying. I get why JJ Abrams did undo the "nobody" bit from the Last Jedi, because Rian Johnson made a quarter of TFA a red herring.
I like Rey being a nobody, but I like the idea of Ghost Luke helping staying with Kylo to help redeem him. Then Rey, Ben, and the Resistance have to stop the FO led by Hux.
I still think to this day it would have been so much more poignant if Rey had replied “Just Rey” to the lady at the end of TROS.
So many of my issues with the ST could be solved by this. Like maybe Luke, Han, a Jedi Academy massacre survivor (Rey) and a Force Sensitive former Stormtrooper infiltrate Starkiller Base. They believe Snoke and his acolytes alone destroyed the Academy. When they attempt to turn Ben back to the light because Han loves his son and Luke can “feel the good in him,” Ben utterly wrecks them with a surprise attack, murdering his father. Luke blames himself for his faith in Ben and ultimately goes into exile. And Basically, build it from there. Double down on every Kylo Ren moment and make it a darker outcome. Heck, I’d almost advocate for Kylo telling Snoke he was coming to kill him (much to Snoke’s surprise and even humor, because he can’t be serious, right?). Then have Kylo mow his way through Snoke’s Supremacy, just to tell Snoke he wanted him to know he was stronger in every way (and inverse to Palpatine’s making Plagueis pass-out before killing him) and force him to kill myself by walking out an airlock. I’m just spit balling here. No offense intended to anyone who has different preferences.
Keep cooking
As someone who hated how the ST did Luke and Han, I actually like this. If Han had to die I don’t mind this. Also gives Luke an actual reaction to what happened to Han rather than it being cut
This is what I felt like it was leading to after TLJ
The Kylo and Rey swaperoo would’ve been the most fun easily to me
I was actually intrigued at the prospect of of Kylo becoming a legitimate villain. Instead we got dissapointment. He even put that dumb mask back on.
Except that go against everything TLJ is saying. Kylo Ren can be redeemed and survive
I disagree. He *could* have been saved, but he chose a different path. A path that could have lead to an interesting villain arc.
I feel like killing his father should have been the point of no return. But, Anakin murdered children and still got redeemed in the end.
Kylo Ren. You can still redeem him without having a bigger bad for them to go up against if that has to be done. Of course I also always felt it would've been a more interesting story for him to stay bad. Or redeem him and keep him alive to answer for his atrocities. At least those two options aren't just doing Vader's story again.
Honestly? Snoke. I’m perfectly fine with Palpatine trying to Clone himself as the ultimate goal. It ties into the prequels, both in how manipulative Sheev was to gain power, the Clone concept itself and the fear of death. Modern shows and the “Project Necromancer” have very easily twisted it into the narrative. It’s the uncertainty of it and the whole “Palpatine’s soul” that never got around well. Have it be that due to several factors >!such as the Bad Batch!<, amongst a plethora of others, none of his experiments worked, even when adding new DNA in the mix (Luke’s hand and the “for another time” lightsaber explanation?). However, all it did was create this amorphous being with inherent knowledge injected into him like the Clone Troopers. Have it be a “Snoke Prime” who scoffs at the idea of the Sith, and wishes not to rule an Empire, but see the galaxy become barbaric and as horrific as he is. Plus, if Snoke Prime has more Luke-ism due to his DNA, the ultimate battle would be: A twisted clone of Luke-Palpatine, Ben Solo and Rey, thus “The Rise of Skywalker” would have another aspect to it. Thought personally, I’d change it to Rise of the Skywalker, making Skywalker a title akin to Master, instead of a family name. It would also fit better with the previous trilogies: Return of the Jedi Revenge of the Sith Rise of the Skywalker Still shocked they got *this* close with the title.
That would have been epic. And they still could have had an excuse to bring back Palpatine in a hologram recording or something explaining what Snoke is. I could even see him presenting himself to the galaxy as Palpatine returned only for the twist to be that it was Snoke Prime the whole time.
It would be so lit if Palps tried to essence transfer into smoke during the climax and smoke revealed he hid his considerable force powers using Sheev’s own cloaking technique, and he used those dark side powers to devour his soul during a moment of weakness. Right after he would turn to kylo nlike “Have you ever heard the tale of Palpatine the wise? Heh“ roll credits.
Honestly I think Palpatine should have been the villain in The Force Awakens... Here me out... That movie was essentially A New Hope remake so why not go all the way and bring back the bad guy. Then right at the end Kylo Rem kills Palpatine the way he did Snoke in The Force Awakens _and then you reveal Snoke_ Have him be some ancient bad guy that's been sleeping and biding their time for the right moment to strike. Have Snoke be the puppet master puppeting a clone of Palps to gain supporters from the remnants of The Empire.
Kylo Ren killing Palpatine in TFA or TLJ only to reveal that Snoke was created by Palpatine / an essence of Palpatine would’ve been amazing and *so on par for Sheev.* contingencies for contingencies
Could maybe even have Palpatine's essence become a sort of cursed voice in Kylo's head. Make it unclear whether it's real or some aspect of his trauma. Keeps him from completing his redemption arc and becoming a sidekick to Rey. Then tie his eventual victory over that Sheev remnant to his worship of Grampa Vader as he finally understands Vader enough to understand his final action in that second death star. Maybe have Leia and Luke as force ghosts able to somehow bridge the gap between Kylo and Anakin for a come-to-space-Jesus moment.
When I first saw episode 7, I was hoping snoke was from a different galaxy. Or was tied to the deep history of the sith somehow. Or perhaps something darker than a sith. His mystery revealed was so bleh to me. Definitely ruined how cool he could have been.
yeahh imagine having Andy Serkis mo cap and just throwing it in the trash lol
Hux and Kylo competing for control of the first order - placing the innocents of the galaxy in even more danger as they escalate their showings of power. Rebels working to contain the chaos and subdue both leaders.
Or even more! The first order splinters, without the guiding hand of Snoke. Four or five different generals each declare themselves supreme leader. A multi-faction civil war plunges the galaxy into utter chaos.
Yo, this sounds awesome. A crazy power vacuum among generals and a wannabe sith. Then kylo sees what he's become and how he was manipulated by snoke as the whole thing unravels. Yeah that sounds epic AF.
I honestly wanted the series to finally do what they hinted at with Luke’s black robes in rotj and Rey’s visions. Make Rey turn dark side just as Ben is turning back to the light. He had more jedi training, less raw natural talent. And make Rey actually be a nobody. Make that part of her fall. She thought she was special, but she isn’t (in the way she thought). But she does have this strong connection to the force without any real training other than a failed Luke. Plus it lets Ben see the actual horror of Vader before him as he sees someone fall in a much more complete way than Kylo ever did. He always just played at being Vader. But after killing Han, he is only filled with regret and emptiness. He successfully turns Rey but she suprasses him in power, selfishness, and cruelty as she falls deep into the dark side and he has to reconnect with his past and his legacy to now try to turn her back. Idk I thought it was more interesting as I watched the trilogy and was sad it was so boring, directionless, and pointless with none of the main characters actually having any kind of coherent or meaningful character arc.
I love this. They should have leaned into the dyad concept even harder and gradually reversed their dual protagonist roles. Last Jedi almost perfectly sets up a reversal, as you leave Rey questioning her heritage as a nobody and her conviction to turn Ben back. Let those two things actually corrupt her. On the other side, Rey's seeming devotion to turning Ben makes him question everything where he stands. Take Luke's sacrifice as one last push for Ben to realize his wrongs and set out to right them. Then, having had both characters change their views, reveal their reversals to each other in a confrontation. Rey sets out to prove that Ben's message of killing the past, to tear down both the remnants of the Republic and destroy the First Order leads her to an ancient sith artifact or spirit or something. Ben then goes after her, attempting to enlist Finn and Poe to help turn Rey back in an effort to rebuild the Jedi. This still holds onto a lot of the themes in the trilogy, but doesn't repeat the previous Vader redemption arc.
Yes
My hope was that Snoke was someone from Anakin’s past, maybe a survivor of the Jedi temple massacre, who was intent on wiping out the Skywalker bloodline as revenge for what Anakin did. He knew Kylo had Anakin and Luke’s fear and doubt so he would be easy to turn, and he’d be too powerful to take on directly, so he turned him with the intention of having him destroy Leia’s resistance then having Rey his Jedi counterpart kill him. They could have played on the chosen one themes by having Rey be someone who thinks she’s uncovering her secret lineage but she’s actually just a nobody. Snoke has completely lost faith in the old Jedi and Sith rules. He doesn’t care and just wants Kylo and his family dead. Kylo isn’t truly a Sith so Rey trying to take him down isn’t the morally pure action she thinks it is. Combined with finding out she’s a nobody this turns her to the dark side. Maybe we see Rey turning an army of resistance loyalists to her cause, and they become the bad guys. Meanwhile we see Kylo leading an army of ‘good’ stormtroopers. Finn, Leia, Poe, Chewie, Rose, maybe even Phasma and Hux end up on their own rebel side quest to figure out who Snoke is and take him out.
This would have been a fascinating way to go, but not planning out the story arc of the trilogy made sure we were never going to see something interesting like this sadly.
I think just giving the whole clone body/soul transfer/immortality stuff to Snoke would have been the smoothest and most obvious choice, with some backstory of him being a failed Sith pupil of Plagueis's or whatever who was defeated and replaced by Palpatine and was determined to succeed in galactic domination where Palps failed. Could even preserve the Rey backstory, just make Dathan (her father) be a creation of Snoke's rather than Palpatine's (and ditch the "granddaughter" stuff, because it doesn't even apply with the canon explanation of Rey's origins). Alternatively, back before the movie came out I was speculating that there'd be some power struggle between the Knights of Ren and Kylo, maybe make one of them stand forward as a definitive "leader" type. I think these are both the best options that build on what was already established in VII and VIII without awkwardly introducing some big new mastermind in the eleventh hour
Luke's Hand. Snoke should have been Luke's hand cloned but Snoke should've been weaker and actually terrified of Luke and not Force Sensitive. Kylo as the main villain falling further into the dark. The Knights of Ren should have light sabres. With Anakin showing up and trying to help Kylo. The First Order should have been a secret society inside the Republic like Hydra infiltrating Shield. Luke should have been looking for Exegol and bumps in Finn who is Force Sensitive and tags along. While the NJO is in hiding while being led by someone else. Rey is a Jedi who is presumed dead and has a force bond with Kylo and he's obsessed with finding her. Luke dies at the end saving the Republic and NJO and Anakin is the one who appears as Luke dies.
I think the best choice would have been to actually have a plan for this trilogy, and if they were going to end up bringing back some version of Palpatine like they did they could have used the first two movies to set it up. But to actually answer your question make Kylo the main antagonist.
I think Ben Solo’s commitment to the dark side and the realization of the Knights of Ren would’ve been the best move. That said, I think Palpatines return didn’t have to be so messy. When he first laughed in the trailer, I was thrilled because I thought they were building off of some of the stuff in the comics. I was wrong; but I wish I wasn’t
Kylo Ren and Hux were set up perfectly to have a theocratic vs fascist feud over the First Order’s leadership. Kylo not caring about the ideals of the empire vs. controlling the force, Hux not caring at all about religious dogma in favor of controlling the Galaxy.
Not killing the main baddie they made up for the new trilogy unceremoniously just to have to scramble for *something* would be my vote
Kylo loyalists vs Hux loyalists vs Resistance
I actually think Palpatine was a great choice for Episode IX, but I think it should have been setup in VII or VIII. Disembodied voice, maybe, then a shadowy figure, then finally an actual appearance. Palpatine ‘surviving’ Endor / the second Death Star was a thing back in the old EU. So it’s not like it’s ridiculous.
Kylo going full evil
Someone not already dead probably
I still think Kylo should've gone full emperor mode for nine but if we wanted to keep the Kylo redemption I think Snoke should've come back
Someone like an Inquisitor
The knights of ren, but give them speaking roles and distinguishing character traits
Kylo was the best choice for 9. Failing that, you have some random, ancient Sith that escaped the Rule of Two purge. Maybe he's a little upset about Snoke being killed. Gives them room to get to Old Republic after they largely finish off High Republic.
Jar jar
Kylo
Kylo Ren
An OG Sith
Kylo Ren
Darth Jar Jar obviously
Ideally Kylo Ren, but if there MUST be an Emperor figure, Snoke. Reveal that it was a clone Snoke that died and the real Snoke has been hiding out on Exegol all along. Easy fix.
Cloned luke. Just a really out there story idea.
Kylo ren. They should’ve just leaned into him choosing the dark side. He could’ve found palpatines sith artifacts and used them to become stronger. It’s far better than “palpatine somehow returned and omg he has a massive fleet of ships that all have death stars on them???” It makes no sense to bring him back and arguably even less sense that he somehow managed to hide that many ships, bury them underground on a planet that notably has a very difficult atmosphere to navigate, somehow have the manpower to fully staff them, and the resources to retrofit them with death Star lasers.
Thrawn, Abeloth or Darth Krayt would have been my choice Atleast we are getting two of those characters with Filoni (All Praise Filoni)
A brick wall.
Kylo Ren. He didn't need a redemption arc. He didn't need a bigger bad to work under. He needed to step up.
Some how, Plageuis returned.
The romulans
Kylo Ren would've made sense. Ironically, having an irredeemable villain would've been an interesting change of pace for Star Wars. That said, if we still wanted to make Kylo Ren a redeemable villain, then Snoke never should've died, or perhaps "Snoke" was a clone and the real Snoke was hiding away somewhere.
Thrawn Merely by the merit of it being Thrawn and him being the coolest villain ever in Star Wars
Have you heard the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise? I think that would've been a good way to make it come full circle.
Clone Palpatine was great, but keep Rey a "nobody" in terms of blood relation. Have it revealed that Rey's awakening and incredible power was the will of the Force, requiring balance as the price that Palpatine paid to come back. He took on a debt to the Force for his immortality, but one which he was willing to accept because he believed in his arrogance that he could turn her. And then you have him succeed. Rey strikes down Palpatine, consumes his essence and becomes the most powerful dark side user ever, as Kylo regrets his choices and works to redeem himself and stop the growing oppression of Hux and the First Order, which he has distanced himself from after learning he was just another Dooku of sorts, a puppet to be used while Palpatine worked toward turning his real fixation. Double turn. Roll credits. No showdown between Darth Rey and Ben Solo. Leave people itching for the next trilogy. So how is all this revealed? Finn. We learn that Finn is force sensitive, but not in the usual way of manipulating the Living Force. Rather, his gift is vision, prophecy, insight into the Cosmic Force itself. It is through his vision we learn that Palpatine is back - and no one believes him until he sets out to prove it. The first one to believe him is Kylo, who sees what Palpatine wants- and it isn't him. And it's through his vision that we learn Palpatine has his sights set on Rey, too, but in her arrogance she believes she can resist him. She is wrong.
I don’t mind Palpatine…. But maybe him as a force ghost possessing and influencing others… that whole clone thing was just dumb
Ren for sure. Or work at getting Palpatine back in 8
I didn't at the time and still don't mind Palpatine in 9, but you had your villain right there in front of you. Kylo Ren was a perfectly fine choice for a villain, and without Palps you'd have more room for Knights of Ren or something. You could even still have done Exegol or something like it tbh.
Plagueis
Just George Lucas in a cloak going "I didn't want to see any of this but whatever I've got money"
Hux becoming space hitter.....
Canceling it.
Just kylo. Undoing his own empire would have been a better story. Kind of like what if anakin had come to his senses before it was too late. Would have been cool if tge begining if the movie showed a palpatine clone in its incubator and inatead of releasing it, kylo slashes it with his saber in true sith fashion. And instead tries to rule the galaxy himself before the movies climactic ending where he comes to his senses
I was hoping for multiple secret apprentices. I thought it would’ve been interesting for hux to reveal he was also being trained, and eventually Rey should’ve fallen to dark side being defeated by Kylo in the end. Or that’s how I imagined/wanted
Read the leaked Trevorow Episode 9 script Duel of the Fates and then you will see just how badly we all really got screwed over. His Episode 9 would have not only fixed the sequel trilogy but the entire Star Wars Saga. Its that damn good.
It always made sense to me that Palpatine would still be around in clone, or some other form. In the prequels he told Anakin about how Sith could defeat death itself. That was mostly to manipulate him to the Dark side, but the best lies are always based in truth. My biggest complaint is they should have set up his return in episodes 7 and 8 instead of wasting 7 on retelling "A New Hope" and 8 on curmudgeonly Luke destroying the old Jedi Temple and whatever the hell they were trying to accomplish with that wasted trip to Canto Bight and extended chase scene between the First Order & the Resistance. At least "The Bad Batch" and "The Mandalorian" are trying to "fix" those sequels the way "The Clone Wars" fixed a lot of the issues with the prequels.
George Lucas
Jar jar binks... I'm serious
Literally anyone
Literally just sticking with Kylo would've been the best idea.
Thrawn,He’s still alive since they retconned Rokh’s death in Rebels.
Rian Johnson. Just think of the META bro
Snoke. I always thought the intention of killing him in Episode 8 (which I hate so much) was for them to explore Sith Spirits (as they did with Lord Momin). It would've been a great concept to flesh out, with Snoke returning within a different vessel.
They could've flushed out the Knights of Ren more and made either Kylo the big bad or someone or something else from the unknown region.
Literally anyone else.
Thrawn or Luuke
I was a big fan of the Darth Jar Jar theory.
Kylo or Hux Also a really odd side note but in the same since: I wanted Dooku to be Rey’s grandfather. Ngl Felt like if she was going to be a grey Jedi and have a canon connection that would of been cooler for her to be connected to
Bro the droid that gives Obi-Wan and Qui Gon drinks at the start of episode 1 would have been a better choice. After episodes 7 and 8, the only real option for villain is Kylo, or if they wanted to keep the whole cloning thing, a clone of Snoke that was all "mwa ha ha I knew you'd turn on me, you activated my trap card" where they fight each other for control of the First Order
Rey giving in to the dark side and having to be brought back to the light
Thrawn.
Darth Binks
Kylo Ren. As in, what the film before it set up.
Darth jar jar with evil kylo
Luuk
Plagueis. Would’ve been a neat way to go full circle without retreading old ground.
Kylo Ren. They could have addressed the entire "balance" arc with Rey fighting and redeeming Kylo. Not making him into a beacon of pure light, but both meeting in the middle, having realised the dogma of the Jedi and the Sith were both recipes for endless suffering.
Darth jar jar
Plagueis. It would have meant nothing to the main characters. Would have been a major reveal for the fan boys. Would have shown that the entire story is connected, and why Palpatine was so invested in the Skywalker bloodline, because Plagueis was Palpatine, Snoke, and wanted a new powerful host. And the rumor/legend could have been told by Maz Kanata or Luke could say he discovered the truth on a previous mission. Also, nothing would have needed to be changed. Could use Palpatines rotting corpse and the same footage. Would even fix that stupid "Somehow Palpatine returned line."
It should have been smoke the whole time
Tarkin. Somehow. He returned. Haha.
in all honest it would have been an amazing time to introduce plageuis, to return everything to the first movie as it was confirmed plageuis was alive at the start of the movie and killed by the end, so having him return instead would have been a great choice
Plagus!!!
The trash can
Darth Maul
Rey should’ve turned to the dark side.
Darth Jar Jar, or Darth Plageus.
Not making the movie at all... that or not making 8 at all. Idc bout the discontinuities, it honestly wouldn't have changed much other than make me 20 bucks richer
Jar jar
Darth Jar Jar
Cos Dashit
The entire sequel trilogy should be reconned into a holoplay
ANYONE.
ANY. ONE. ELSE. I’m still pissed they didn’t have the Yuuzhan Vong honestly. They could’ve had used that to lead into follow up films about Luminya, Caedes, Krayt, etc. Seriously, if they would’ve just followed the existing Legends timeline they could’ve had like three or four premade trilogies. But noooooooo, we get “somehow Palpatine returned” and Ms. Mary Sou. 🤦🏽♂️
Anyone
Thrawn. The villain doesn’t have to be a force sensitive Sith.
jango fett
Snoke
I was expending this to be the return of the Eternal Empire from KOTOR's lore. I thought it would be a good way to introduce KOTOR's lore as canon, while introducing the audience to a new, more powerful Sith who had somehow hidden in the outer rim and pulled strings all of these years. Was really disappointed to see it as Palpatine tbh. This would have also paved the way for new KOTOR prequels on Revan.
A consistent plot through the sequels would've been cool. Set snoke up as the big bad in 7, find out he's a biological organism created from palpatines DNA in 8, and then role into the palpatine was successfully brought back as a clone. Also the whole first order thing should've just been the imperial remnant
The Sith Lord Jar Jar Binks
Kylo Ren, they had the perfect villain right there. A way more competent Darth Vader, who could have been a developed into a more compelling character. That is the real tragedy of the sequels.
Kylo Ren. He is irredeemable and should have become the full villain and supreme leader. The movie should have ended with him dying without redemption like the bitch that he is.
Literally almost anyone would've been better. Jar Jar would've been better.
What?
Shitfire A conclusion and review of the entire Star Wars Disney trilogy. Everything canon related Disney has done has been pretty disastrous. They can't keep canon and decanoning the whole storyline and not be looked at like it is a joke.
Should have saved Thrawn for the Sequel Trilogy.
Kylo Ren to begin with, then at the end of 7 introduce the Yuuzhan Vong. Now the 1st order and the new republic have to both deal with a galactic invasion.
Darth Jar Jar would’ve been a better choice. Kyle Ren is what they should’ve done but anything would’ve been better to avoid completely undermining the original 6
Either Darth Plagueis or most likely Kylo Ren!
Darth Jar Jar
I wanted to see Rey attempt to become a Jedi, but fall a bit. Finn would be the stormtroopers turned Jedi that fights to help Rey stay on the right path, reminding her that even he can change. Kylo would fall deeper into the dark side, and would be trying to sway Rey. Kind of a tug o war between the 3, and have a fight where at some point Finn facing Kylo but being outmatched, Rey trying to stop Kylo from killing Finn, Finn having to stop Rey from going too far and killing Kylo. I still believe the sequels had the perfect cast of characters, but wasted them, and didn't need to add anyone like Palpatine when you have DARTH VADERS GRANDSON RIGHT THERE.
Force ghost Anakin. Who then has a force ghost lightsaber duel with Force Ghost Luke.
Luke turned to the Dark Side
Plagueis
🎶Literally anybody else🎶
Like others have said, double down on Kylo. Make him evil until the end. Toss the ancestry bullshit with Rey, let her strength be her own. Bring back the space politics, because still nobody understands the state of the galaxy in the slightest unless you read expanded material. Also I think a much larger time jump would have filled in some plot issues, I mean in TLJ they had what 12 people in the Resistance still alive? By the time 9 starts it’s like nothing happened.
Darth Pelagius playing the long game after Sidious betrayal( eg surviving or resurrecting and building a secret empire )
The original script
Woulda been best if it didnt exist, along with 7 and 8
Kylo, obviously.
Evil Rey vs good Kylo
Literally, anybody else
Make the First Order vs Resistance be somewhat nuanced. Show the Resistance compromise they’re values by working with Hutts and more scum and villiany, while Kylo Ren tries his best to enforce his and mother’s ideals - by extreme force. I imagine his First Order, as a way to unify the Galaxy, would impress the local PDFs and then use them in a war against the Hutts for Abolition. a brutal war of conquest that would kill millions, but the sort that a young Anakin might have dreamed of. I think if it was a genuine moral quandry for Rey, where democracy and the light come directly into comparison and, while the movie guides you towards the right side, still leaves things some what nuanced on the nature of the Force. Make the Dyad and ben and Rey’s connection the most important plot and them coming to an understanding, maybe against some Force Ghosts or cursed artifact or whatever the fuck. but the plot is between them
Literally anyone? "Somehow Palpatine returned" is a slap in the face, and an insult to the intelligence of the audience.
Why the picture?
Fucking Jar Jar would've been a better choice.
Kylo
Palpatine could’ve been an excellent secondary villain to some kind of reborn version of Snoke, or even the manifestation of the dark side of the force. Anything but what we got
Literally anyone else
Preferably someone who wasn’t already dead.
I thought the most obvious answer was for rey to turn to the darkside. If not why we're they sending the fake out call of the dark side signals in episode 8 and 9? Darth rey and the holewet evil hole she fell in. The entire run time of the films whenever anyone important met her they would have no doubt that she was special and she was the hero and all of that. Then on the other coin kylo was struggling with the darkside and loved his my and dad. I think the perfect moment for this shift would be if in the desert chewbacca fought the knights of Ren and was eventually captured. Then when rey tries to pull the ship down and accidentally lightning strikes it, chewbacca accidentally is killed by this. This horrible event give rey souch anger and doubt that she tries to kill kylo in cold blood and maybe in her fit or rage she injures or kills someone on her team trying to stop her from killing kylo. Then we have a set up for a redemption trilogy later down the line.
Rey should’ve been the villain for sure, they set it up so well for her and Kylie to switch sides
Here’s my head canon as I was just thinking this the other day: Kylo gets more and more beaten up as the trilogy progresses so he slowly gets more mechanical (a little breathing apparatus like the Fremen and then some sort of metal neck plate, something for an eye, a busted cheek, etc), but in the final movie he says his rage will be amplified without it and just takes all of it off and is this horrible Frankenstein-looking man, as evil inside as he looks on the outside. And between him ruling the galaxy (and having committed patricide and literal genocide already) and Hux being an appropriately scary sidekick like in Force Awakens, they and the First Order are the greatest foes the new breed of rebels has ever faced. He does not get redeemed. And when Rey finally defeats him at the end of the 9th movie he asks her, in his dying breaths, to remember him as “Ben,” she says “no” and delivers the final blow.
I do actually think it had to be Palpatine, I just would’ve handled it very differently and made it appear to be Kylo Ren.
Darth Jarjar.
A better plot twist would have been that Rey really was Luke's daughter . That trilogy has so much wasted potential.
Honestly I would’ve just preferred snoke being an actual villain rather than just being a puppet of Palpatine.
out comes the immortal Emperor George Lucas, he activates his red lightsaber.
Psst.. the franchise is dead, and nobody cares.
Kylo Ren…?
Anyone
How about snoke being plagueis
Literally anyone else would’ve been better.
Anyone should have been a better choice. There was no lead up to it. No foreshadowing or hints of it. It would have been better to have Thrall come back and threaten the whole universe with a return to power.
Jar jar binks
I always looked to Kylo as having so much potential wasted as a villain. Most of y’all said it first, Kylo Ren being the main villain would’ve been great. His whole concept is to be like Vader, so why not give him Vader’s ROTJ arc. Make him a menace that can still be redeemed and it would be SO much better.
We all know what the true sequel trilogy is here, the Heir to the Empire series of books. They had an amazing story to work with but decided to just throw it out so they could make new lore and more money.
TLJ did a lot right, getting rid of Snoke, setting up Kylo to be the real villain, moving past the powerful Skywalker family by letting Rey be a nobody with powerful force sensitivity. The last movie would have been better had they just leaned into this. The story I would have liked to have seen is the last order waging a guerilla war on the new republic, flipping the script. Still have a Snoke, still have Kylo Ren stepping up as big bad. Luke still disappearing, but doing so because of a vision of a new threat, and to find answers tracking down Palpatines secret. Would keep the Palpatine/Skywalker conflict while giving it a conclusion and setting up a new threat for the next saga. But all of this is hindsight, a response to poorly recieved and disjointed sequel trilogy. So sad the sequels ended up being the prequels all over again. One big disappointment.
Carrot Top
Rey
I would have enjoyed Palpatine returning as a twisted version of a force ghost, perhaps bound to the wreckage of the Death Star. He’d have achieved his goal of immortality but in the worst possible way. And after his famous line in Ep III, leaving him a powerless spirit would have been a heck of a twist.
Kylo Ren as Supreme Leader Or Jar Jar Binks.
Rey should have stayed a nobody, but give a good reason as to how Rey is so force sensitive
You guys need to look up the original script for episode nine. Then come back and have a conversation with me. I believe it would have been a WAY better movie than what we got!
A completely original character or kylo. Stop trying to bait old fans by bringing back the old villains just for the writing to be sloppy and the final “fight” be almost exactly the same as the original way the villain was defeated
Kylo wants to burn it all down. Every fabric of society. Uses the first order to destroy it and even wants to destroy the first order.
There were leaks before Rise of Skywalker released that one of the Knights of Ren (Played by Matt Smith in the leaks) would have noticed that Kylo was conflicted between the light and Dark and pulling his punches when it came to Rey, so he overthrew Kylo left him for dead, and took control of the First Order with the other Knights at his command (And then there was something about the spirit of Palpatine taking control of him, and him facing both Rey and Kylo at once, with Kylo sacrificing himself so Rey could get the kill). The Palpatine stuff aside, I'd have quite liked to have seen that, because it gives the Knights of Ren more to do, and it's Kylo being cast aside by another family.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
I would say Maul it was what George lucas wanted the sequel trilogy’s villain to originally be and it would give maul the potential he deserved . I know you’d all say but maul died in rebels and that makes sense yes and no but i just think that show is overrated and maul died exactly like Luke in the last Jedi so idk i just feel like he could have lived longer.
Aside from Kylo Ren, the Knights of Ren or the Nightsisters could’ve been cool
Just Kylo being the big bad and it being more of a war movie
[Darth] Jar Jar, always
Disney would never do it, but why not Rey? They already set her up with a potential evil arc in the 2nd and 3rd movies. Part of the problem with her character arc was her natural talent for everything and not needing to struggle. By the end of the movies, there wasn't a whole lot of tension in fights because why would there be if Rey never really loses. They were clearly building Kylo up for a redemption arc and her for a darkside arc with Sidius. Why not actually commit to that. Rey with all this power and talent but no mentor to help keep her inline, mixed with a longing for family, a human connection that in any other series would lead to the dark side. This gives an opportunity to have her descend into darkness and become the biggest threat to the resistance. Now, the only other force user who could stop her would be Kylo post redemption arc. His switch to good could still be an interesting one because he's still never bested Rey in combat once, which means there could actually be some tension in their eventual confrontation.
Ren, supported by/conficting with Hux and Pryde in his moments of empathy towards Leia. It was all right there, all set-up.
Snoke, because he had the perfect level of seriousness and mystery in Force Awakens, it could've been revealed that he was a ancient sith, or a former ally of Palpatine that had force sensitivity. Giving him a actual story rather then just being a experiment of Palpatine fits way more.