5 Major Ways Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker Mirrored The Last Jedi

One of the most puzzling choices made in The Rise of Skywalker is the decision to essentially retell Poe Dameron's story arc from The Last Jedi.

In Rian Johnson's film, Poe's leadership is questioned throughout. He oftentimes comes across as a hot head who thinks he knows everything. Meanwhile, his superior, Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo is basically everything Dameron isn't when it comes to being a leader. Through his time dealing with Holdo, up to her dramatic sacrifice, Poe slowly but surely is forced to realize what it truly means to be an effective leader.

'The Rise of Skywalker' largely ignores that character development, instead choosing to feature Poe as the same overconfident know-it-all he is at the beginning of The Last Jedi. It isn't until Leia's death that Poe really pulls himself back into shape and becomes the leader he should be once again. Leia's death therefore effectively just serves to replace Holdo's sacrifice when it comes to explaining Poe's growth as a character.

In a roundabout way, The Rise of Skywalker eventually does continue Poe's arc by the end, simply because we get to see him in that leadership role a lot more prominently, but it seems like he learned little to nothing from the preceding movie's events until that point.

It's unclear why The Rise of Skywalker spends so much energy retelling an arc that The Last Jedi already succeeded at explaining then, but it remains one of the most glaring similarites between the movies regardless.