10 Dumbest Things In Star Wars: Sequel Trilogy

If you thought George Lucas' prequel trilogy was a hugely divisive set of Star Wars features, then did Disney have a surprise for you in the 2010s.

J. J. Abrams and Rian Johnson's movies certainly had their moments along the way, with Episodes VII-IX boasting often mesmerising visuals, noticeably stronger dialogue, and a few wonderfully bold narrative shifts.

However, this was also a trilogy crammed full of absolutely ridiculous developments, idiotic pieces of writing, and the unforgivable wasting of many a compelling hero and villain.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the entire sequels experience was the fact this latest set of Skywalker Saga chapters once seemed to possess all the potential in the world.

The return of iconic faces from the past, the injecting of some fresh and exciting new talent, and a story that initially felt both wonderfully nostalgic and potentially groundbreaking, these films had the makings of something properly special.

By the time The Rise of Skywalker embarrassingly crashed and burned in 2019, though, the memories of just how foolish and perplexing these Star Wars stories routinely were was all that remained for many.

Put simply, and as evidenced by our prequel version of this very list, Star Wars can be utterly magical on its day... but it also has the potential to be rather dumb in the wrong hands.

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker was responsible for some of the stupidest occurrences ever to go down in the galaxy far, far away.

The first of the many this list will touch on involved the baffling undoing of one of the most shocking and refreshing plot twists in Star Wars history.

Coming into Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, the Force-sensitive scavenger from Jakku known as Rey had spent years waiting for the return of her parents, with many assuming this was all leading to the sensational reveal of the central figure being related to another famous family in the galaxy.

But Rian Johnson had no interest in giving fans what he saw as "the easiest thing she could hear" (via Reddit), though, brilliantly making Rey a "nobody" instead as a way of forcing her to find out who she was for herself.

Then J. J. Abrams took one look at that unexpected and rather bold development and said "that's great and all, but what if she was actually a Palpatine?" In the director's mind, coming from "the worst possible place" was the "more shocking" thing to discover (via Collider).

Now sure, Abrams felt this Rise of Skywalker retcon would ultimately show how some things are more powerful than blood and where you came from. But Johnson's twist surely did the same thing, right?

So, choosing to undo such a strong narrative shift and instead get Rey wrapped up in silly Palpatine/Skywalker last name nonsense just undermined what was already a powerful message one film prior.