Episode 7: The Force Awakens

Skywalker Saga

The Shadows of the Past Trilogy

Episode 7: The Force Awakens

                Movie opens with the same crawl.  The typical star field remains.  The scene then drops to the planet Jakku.  Everything in the beginning proceeds as in the original.  About the only thing I would change about this movie is the entire concept of Starkiller Base.  Why waste time turning a planet into a massive weapon that can shoot through hyperspace when you could have built several Death Stars by this point.  Plus, it makes it too similar to the original.  The "Even Bigger Super Weapon Than Last Time" thing has been done to death.

                Instead, it really changes very little of the story if the First Order had four Death Stars that they send into the Hosnian system.  Then they proceed to obliterate the Republic fleet with very little effort.  It would thus be more epic and climactic as well to see droves of TIEs and a huge fleet of First Order Star Destroyers obliterating the Republic Armada, annihilating the entire system one moon or planet or warship at a time.  If each Death Star also had hyperspace inhibitors to prevent the Republic Fleet from escaping, that would bring about the same result.  And the First Order broadcasts it across the galaxy via pirated hyperspace transmissions.

                But then…what could the Resistance do against such a force?  After thirty years, you’d think someone would have been smart enough to evaluate the Death Star plans and come up with a weapon to wipe them out more effectively just in case someone built new Death Stars.  This is the premise I came up with.  After the destruction of the Hosnian system, the Resistance launches specialized fighters equipped with prototype missiles.  Fearing this day would come, Leia had issued an order to have these missiles and starfighters developed in secret. 

                And so, to try to save some remnant of the Republic Fleet, the final, epic battle between the Resistance and the First Order in this Episode takes place in the debris fields of the Hosnian System as the X-Wings protect these specialized Bombers, the Starkillers (a throwback to Luke's original last name), while they pummel all four of the Death Stars. 

                The Starkillers would also be a throwback to some of the Expanded Universe books as well.  The missiles they contain could punch holes even through a sun’s core.  This makes the Resistance appear to be more of a threat than anyone anticipated, and it also means that Death Stars aren’t going to do the trick for the Empire anymore.  However, the final battle is still a taxing one, and most of the Resistance fleet is wiped out by the time the last Death Star falls.  Besides this, only one of the Starkillers survives.

                But before that, Rey is aboard the last of the Death Stars.  Han and Chewie go with Finn to save her, deciding not to leave her in the hands of Kylo and hoping to save her before the Resistance blows up the Death Star with her on it.  Han has to do something to try to win his son back as well.  Therefore, he’s going only to save Rey and confront his son in the hopes of convincing him to come home before that Death Star is blown to pieces.

                They are only able to get aboard because Finn had once served to protect a technology center for the First Order.  He remembers hearing about a particular weakness that the techs were talking about that was still an issue.  He often heard them talk about sensor issues because they were all assigned to sensor tech division.  (This is also how Finn knew to fly low to the ground to confuse TIE sensors back on Jakku). 

                So using Finn’s trick, with the typical Han Solo skill at flying, they reach the Death Star.  They board what Finn calls a maintenance hanger, using Finn’s trick to override sensors so they could simply slip into the lightly used hanger bay.  They hope Rey is aboard that particular Death Star, but Finn is fairly certain it is the one stating that Kylo was given command of that particular one, while General Hux was given command of a different one.  Kylo even calls it “Ren’s Star.”

                And so, they meet up with Rey, who has escaped on her own as in the original movie, but as they are trying to escape, Phasma catches them.  She and her troops duke it out with the heroes, chasing them through the Death Star even as the battle is winding to a close and the Resistance fighters are down to their last few fighters while they try to get the Starkiller Poe is protecting with his X-Wing close enough to Ren's Star.  (As a side note, Hux escapes his own Death Star, which is the second to last one to be destroyed.  As the Starkillers approach, he abandons ship like a coward, saving his own skin.)

                Kylo arrives.  Han confronts him while Finn and Rey and Chewie fight desperately to hold off Phasma and her troops.  Kylo attacks Han immediately, but it is clear that he is holding back.  He is struggling to bring himself to kill his father, and Han, also, seems to be just trying to avoid dying at the hands of his son as he tries desperately to talk him out of his allegiance to the First Order.  As they play cat-and-mouse on the catwalks over a massive chasm of the Death Star, Han is finally disarmed by Kylo and flung into a wall.  Kylo, frustrated that Han keeps “tempting him with the Light Side”, approaches his father in a rage.  “You were never there for me!” he cries bitterly. 

                “Kid!  Listen to me, will ya?  I’m sorry!” Han gasps.  “I’ve made mistakes, but we can fix this!”

                “No!  It’s too late for me…” he says as he stands over Han ominously, a look of pure grief and torment on his face.

                “Jacen,” Han pleads (I never understood why Han and Leia would call their son Ben since Han and Leia were never really close to Obi-Wan.  Giving Kylo the name Jacen is a throwback to the Expanded Universe and it severs the ties to the past.  It also fits Kylo's persona a bit more; a more modern name than Ben).  “Don’t do this.  We love you - your mother and I."  He then talks partially to himself.  "Bah!  That's not good enough.”  He looks Kylo in the eyes with the most sincere look he can give him.  "I love you.  For your own sake, don't do this.  Come back to me.  I'm begging you."

                For several moments it seems Kylo is caught in torment.  Then, all of a sudden, you hear a gentle whisper, as if from the shadows.  “He abandoned you and your mother…He is lying to you...He ALWAYS lies his way out of things…He has always viewed you as a monster…like Vader…He fears you…He is manipulating you…just like he does everyone…He doesn’t love you…He’s trying to control you…to use your emotions against you.”  The voice is clearly Snoke’s.  “End it!  End the past!  Kill it!  Kill it NOW!”

                During the whisperings, Kylo begins to hold his head as if his head is now throbbing and he is experience intense pain.  Then, as the whispers cry out, “Kill it NOW!” Kylo seems to become possessed.  He roars in uncontrolled rage, almost as if he is lashing out simply to stop the voices.  Han tries to escape his fury, but the Dark Side of the Force suddenly grabs him and violently hurls him towards Kylo.  Kylo's weapon ignites at the last moment, impaling Han on it.

                Only after Han stares into his eyes in pain and agony does Kylo realize what he has done.  Han topples over the balcony and plummets into darkness, leaving Kylo shaking and horrified.  His paralysis is only broken by Chewie’s rage-filled cry.  It is followed by the crossbow bolt, just as in the original movie.

                And then, the final Death Star is hit by the last Starkiller missiles, for Poe has no choice but to order the strike to hit it before he and the rest of his team are obliterated.  The chain reaction begins to shake the entire station.  This tosses Phasma and her troops about like dolls, and everyone nearly plummets to their deaths just as Han did off the catwalks.  Poe and the remaining Starkiller make another pass, the next batch of missiles punching deeper into the Death Star’s shell. 

                With this, Chewie, Finn and Rey manage to get to their feet and bolt for the hanger bay.  Phasma is still recovering, but obviously alive.  She tries to pursue but is tossed sideways through an open door, disappearing.  Her fate is uncertain at this time.  Kylo recovers and sees Chewie, Finn and Rey escape.  He then pursues.  It is unclear whether he is attempting to join them or kill them.

                Then the last Starkiller missiles tear the Death Star open enough to expose the main reactor.  This sends Rey and Finn sprawling across the hanger.  As for Chewie, he had managed to get to the ramp of the Falcon, and he continues in, trying desperately to get it started up.  Kylo enters the hanger just in time to stop Rey and Finn from boarding the Falcon.  The confrontation ensues much as it did on Starkiller base in the movie.

                Meanwhile, the last Starkiller had punched a hole in the Death Star, but it did not destroy it.  With no more missiles, it is up to Poe to recklessly fly into Kylo’s Star and blow up the main reactor, much as Lando and Wedge did in the Return of the Jedi.  He reaches the core just as Rey and Kylo face off after Finn is taken down (just like in the original movie).  But the blast from Poe’s missiles into the reactor sends Kylo flying backwards, creating a chasm between him and Rey (again like the original movie) as the hanger splits open.

                This provides Rey the ability to reach Finn as Kylo retreats to a nearby TIE Fighter.  She grabs Finn, hefts him over her shoulders, and races to the Falcon.  Both ships fly out of the hanger just in time as the Death Star explodes, similar to how Luke barely escaped the Second Death Star just in time in Return of the Jedi.  Kylo veers off in another direction and jumps to lightspeed while Rey and Chewie jump to lightspeed returning to D’Qar. 

                The rest of the movie plays out as the original except that Leia gives Han and the fallen a brief memorial.  Then, as it concludes, she is approached by an officer who reports that R2 has awakened.  It is explained that R2 was instructed by Luke to power up at a certain time.  Luke had foreseen in the Force the timing of things and had instructed R2 to only power up when the fragment of the map was found and the girl named Rey was present.  That would be when the time was right for events to occur as the Force had destined.  Until then, R2 was to remain powered down, or the timing of everything would be ruined and Snoke and the First Order would win. 

                And so, R2 provides the complete map to where Luke has gone.  Rey, Chewie, and R2 leave D'Qar and set out to find him.

                And The Force Awakens comes to an end.