Star Wars: 10 Things Colin Trevorrow's Episode 9 Script Did Better Than The Rise Of Skywalker

One of The Last Jedi's most successful meta-themes was its questioning of the Jedi Order, as golden boy Luke Skywalker began to realise the same flaws audiences saw in the Order in the Prequel films: namely, that the Jedi were a self-righteous insular organisation who attempted to supercede democracy.

Rey's character, in many ways, seemed as though she were becoming a manifestation of the Balance between the Light and Dark Sides; in Episode VIII in particular, Rey leant toward the Dark Side of the Force with no hestiation.

Though by the end of the movie Luke makes peace with the flaws of the Jedi Order and Rey firmly refuses to take Kylo's hand, all the ambiguity the movie introduced is swept aside by The Rise Of Skywalker, which retreads the same tired good/bad duality Lucas himself attempted to uproot with The Phantom Menace way back in 1999.

Admittedly, The Rise Of Skywalker gave audiences a pretty ambiguous ending, her totally-not-just-made-to-sell-toys yellow-bladed lightsaber theorised by some to indicate a more balanced philosophy of the Force.

Allegedly, Duel Of The Fates would have actively shown Rey arguing with Luke about the Jedi Order, as she overtly questioned the flaws Luke himself acknowledged in the previous movie. Trevorrow's script committed to and embraced the difficult themes of flawed hero-worship introduced in The Last Jedi, instead of sweeping them aside in favour of a well-worn narrative.

Ambiguous it may be, but there is no real reason to believe the firmly Light Side Rey of The Rise Of Skywalker will go on to found a Order which is any different or less flawed than the one set up by Luke or the Jedi of old.

Instead of giving us mature conversations about how the monastic organisation should abandon some of their more ...questionable beliefs (kidnapping children, suppression of emotion) we got Return Of The Jedi, again. Thanks, Disney.