REWATCH! Star Wars Episode IX The Rise Of Skywalker - Sith Council 

For me this was such a heart-breaking movie to watch. As I was watching it I was slowly realizing that the sequel trilogy had just basically been a big con. There was no plan, no real story (as was sadly confirmed later by Daisy Ridley and then JJ himself). It was the ultimate Emperor's New Clothes moment for me (no pun intended). It boggles the mind that this is how Disney chose to handle such a precious franchise.

Enjoying these deep dives. The conversations you guys have reminds me of the old days of Jedi Council! Looking forward to the Boba reviews.

Every time Mike screams "What are you proposing?" I die laughing! 😂 Great show guys!

I love watching Mike all conflicted with himself, talking back and forth by himself then throwing his hands up in the end going, "I don't know. I don't know."

I do still want to add that I’ve loved watching these (I watched the whole series) and you guys did a wonderful job discussing and breaking these all down. Thank you for this, guys!

I went to a 24 hour Skywalker Saga marathon in theaters leading up to The Rise of Skywalker. I was excited with how they could end this entire Saga but then there was clearly no plan for the trilogy or the end of this Saga’s story. I was so upset leaving the theater. I’m sorry but for me, this Saga’s story really ended at Return of the Jedi. Thank you Kristian for your review of this film. I’m so grateful to finally hear it!

Great discussion as always. Particularly fond of all the banter and ribbing in this one. Its great to see the chemistry just getting better and better. Good stuff.

Doing a rewatch of these , awesome

For me, this was the first time I had watched/read a piece of SW media and felt that it was corporate. Whether I loved or hated something, I always felt the magic. It was a part of this universe and I was invested regardless, except for this movie. Only time I feel anything is when Ben talks to Han, and it's for a plot point that shouldn't even really be in the movie. Normally, I can like a movie if the ending makes it all worthwhile (Rogue One), but this final act of the trilogy is just an amalgamation of "things a finale should have" and I could see JJ/Lucasfilm checking off boxes rather than making an engaging end to it all. Great video as always though, Kris/Steph/Mike!

Thank you for the rewatch-series Harloff! It was a great time listening to you guys. Can't wait for Boba.

Yes, the force awakens was a retread but JJ did a great job setting up the characters and getting us to care

Thanks for doing these, they make my weekend commutes fun.

This is the one I only watched once in the theater, I saw all of the other Disney era films at least three times on the big screen. To me, the writing in this movie is simply inexcusable. How did some of it even make it past a first draft? Been fun watching the movie discussions, thanks for the laughs. Also, we have R-rated content on disney+ in Canada 😁

“he must have been on another transport” I can’t

Been loving these. I though you said you were going to do a ranking? Is that going to come out?

Love this show so much! I look forward to watching it every week. I enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker when I saw it in the theater. I had fun watching it and parts of it made me cry. Then over the next couple of days, I watched reviews that pointed out all of the massive plot holes I managed to overlook my first viewing and saw the movie in another light. Yeah, it's a mess storywise but I still like it better than Last Jedi. I don't like it as much as I initially did during my first viewing. I'd love to know if there are some key points that were cut out of the movie. It would be interesting to read JJ's first script for it. Also, Leia was holding Han's medal when she died so that's where Maz got it. I'm looking forward to the rankings and I hope you guys talk about the script from "Duel of the Fates." I'd love to hear everyone's take on the movie that we could have got if Trevorrow hadn't gotten the boot.

I've only see Episode IX twice. In the theater and on streaming a few months later. On my second viewing I came to sinking feeling that J.J. Abrams just gave up and didn't care anymore. I know he's a fan, but I don't think he and his co-screenwriter had a good story end for this trilogy or the end of the 9 Episode Skywalker saga. By the end of the day, I just felt the screenplay lacked any type of creative risk, substance, or cohesion. Looking back, either J.J. should have directed this entire trilogy or stuck with the plan to have 3 different directors bring their own vision and screenwriting team to this overarching story. Based on what Colin Trevorrow wrote, it seemed like he took elements from VII and VIII, didn't negate anything, and brought his own vision to this story. It might not have been perfect, but it would have felt at least a good enough point to end the story on. Despite its fun positives, as it stands, Episode IX is my least favorite Star Wars film.

Great episode again crew!! We have Star over here on Disney plus in Ireland/Europe, it has all the R rated stuff on it, Deadpool 1 and 2 Logan etc, lots of Horror stuff on there etc, to be fair its got a lot better over the year, Aliens etc added to it. Keep up the good work!!

Ian McDiarmid,Dennis Lawson,Billy Dee William's knowing it's camp,full camp,go full camp& somehow make it resourrend-Exegol is a weird StarWars Planet:)

One huge missed opportunity I thought they were actually going to do once Kylo arrives at “Exogol” Was that was he would land on the planet, which is a salt flat, and the lighting would strike, illuminating the outline of a crashed Tipoca City, revealing the planet to be Kamino. Hence why it wasn’t on a star chart, and why The emperor’s clone would be there, using the old technology. The implication being that the Dark Side was so powerful, that it killed all the life, and the hidden army’s resources used up all the water. And the Red Nebula would be the power of the Dark Side rotting space, or the Force Itself attempting to separate it from the rest of the universe. This of course was when the movie came out, and obviously wouldn’t hold up now even if they decided to go that route, but it’s a “what if” that would’ve tied the trilogies together.

Thanks for making all these, youre the man 💪

It would have been very interesting to get Reiilys thoughts on this movie. I'd imagine he does not like it? Could be wrong. Loved this episode guys!

My main issue with this film (among many) is how easy everything comes to the heroes. They either stumble upon or are handed everything they need just to get to the next plot point. Nothing is earned. It’s the definition of lazy writing. Anyways, been a fan of yours for the last decade! Love this series of rewatches!

Thankyou guys for these deep dives!! I thought I missed Jedi council but this surpasses, keep up the great work! Best wishes from the uk

I'd definitely love to see you guys do a deep dive or reading (or whatever, something of that ilk) of Colin Trevorrow's Episode 9 draft. I wouldn't even mind you guys still doing "what if's" like you've been doing. I think you'd get a good amount of material and discourse talking about that script. But, anyway...first time leaving a comment here, but great discussion as always, Kristian and co.

1:00:12 “apparently you don’t” LMAO!🤣😂🤣 IM DYING! Goddamn you Harloff, just like that you sent me into a fit of laughter!

I would love to see you guys go through the OT with this same energy and attention to inconsistencies. I think that there is something to love in every Star Wars movie. But as much as I love the OT, I think it is treated with too much reverence. There are plenty of issues in them too if we’re honest with ourselves.

Sith Council - You guys are an absolute riot, Thanks So much for sharing your insight on all three sequels! "May The Force Be With Us All"

The whole thing with Chewie's medal can be confusing. Like you mentioned, in the comics (the canon ones), Chewie did end up getting his own medal at some point, but gave it away to a young girl he met. Maz did have Luke's medal at some point... though she didn't know it. During a flashback in the Last Shot novel, Han needed Maz to do him a favor, and for payment either she wanted or he offered his medal (been awhile since I've read it), but what he didn't tell Maz is that he gave her Luke's medal instead (Leia had possession of all of Luke's stuff when he went away) and kept his...which is exactly something Han would do...which Leia ends up giving to Maz to give to Chewie.

This may be unpopular, but as disappointing as a collective these three movies were, to abandon the characters and stories established here would be a massive mistake. There is a report that the JD Dillard (Director if Sleight) and Matt Owens were developing a movie that has since been repurposed into a show, and apparently it’s centered on Finn exploring both his origins and his post-TROS journey. If the Clone Wars really helped change the Prequels for the better, I think the Sequels deserve it too. The Mandalorian is already looking to head in that direction, and honestly an animated series with the Sequel Trilogy characters and actors’ lending their voices would be a good way too. Honestly, I hope that somehow that Finn series rumor is true, because Boyega would crush it, and he’s admitted he’s not completely opposed to return despite being honest with his disappointment with his role in the movies.

This is actually my favorite of the sequel trilogy, despite some of the sloppier aspects, now that it’s all said and done. I like that it’s a bit separate from the main TFA/TLJ storyline (TLJ had to continue directly from TFA, but TROS got to be a little more of its own thing). I love that the main trio finally gets to work together as a trio. It only took until the final film in the trilogy but they’re finally working together, and they work well together. I like the back and forth between them. This film actually made me interested in seeing them return on screen somehow. JJ and crew did a good job with Leia considering they didn’t had limited footage to work with. I liked that Han was given a more positive note to go out on and that his scene here made his death in TFA have more purpose in turning Ben back to the light. Luke finally got to be the wise Jedi Master, guiding the next generation, and it was great to see Lando again. And C3PO finally had a good role in this trilogy, he had some of the best comedic lines. Everyone dislikes the idea of “Rey Palpatine,” but I really don’t think it’s a bad idea. It feels more substantial than her being from nothing. And it doesn’t really negate anything from the previous films. Luke even says to her in TLJ, “You went straight to the dark.” Of course she did. It’s in her blood. And I like this idea JJ was going for where we have the Skywalker descendent (Ben) on the dark side and the Palpatine descendent (Rey) on the light side. Plus it’s great to see Ian McDiarmid back on screen hamming it up as the Emperor, so even though his return isn’t explained very well, it really doesn’t bother me. The final battle above Exegol is really great. I liked Poe leading the charge and taking over for Leia, and I liked that he promoted Finn to a leadership position. Everybody complains about Finn being wasted in this film, but it completes his arc in a way by having him become a leader in the Resistance. He goes from stormtrooper, to a deserter who wants no part in the war, to a true leader for the cause. Sure, I would’ve loved to see him become a Jedi, but he does have an arc across the trilogy, even if it’s not what a lot of people would’ve preferred. Most of all, this is the only film in the trilogy that leaves me somewhat satisfied in the end. TFA ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m underwhelmed by TLJ, so neither of those really leave me satisfied. But whenever I watch TROS, I always have a fun time. This may not be the case for everyone, but to me this one really feels like there was some love behind it and an attempt to satisfy the fans. I just enjoy watching it, simple as that.

I am just so grateful that I wasn’t the only one using that “what is she proposing!!” Line. 😆😆 so funny

A great discussion! Sometimes I wanna travel back to the time in between force awakens & last Jedi. The hype was real, and Jedi council & movie talk were all fire with news, speculations and all of that good stuff. By the time this movie came out, I feel like majority of the fans didn’t care that much. It was sad to see. P.S: I know this movie made over a billion dollars, however I don’t think it would’ve done as well if it didn’t come out in December.

Before I get started about The Rise of Skywalker, I must admit, I skipped leaving a comment on The Last Jedi. The discussion about that particular movie, with all the back and forth, produces a kind of friction that can get exhausting very quickly. So before I move on, I'd just like to sum up my opinion on TLJ briefly: for every great idea it offers, there is a bad one to meet it! Partly it is for the delivery/execution, partly for half-baked story beats. My cinematic experience at that time constantly evolved from one to the other. I attended the midnight premiere - a double feature with The Force Awakens - and left the theatre confused, wathcing those two movies back to back. The second time I enjoyed it a lot more and the third time was a very laid back experience. Since I had already seen TLJ, knowing what to expect from it, it was funny to witness the reactions of other audience members. One time, when the credits ended, there were these two guys sitting in one of the upper rows and they were fuming about the TLJ as they left the theater. I've never seen people getting that mad over a movie still inside a movie theatre. Others went off in complete silence. Why do I tell this? Because The Rise of Skywalker offered such a different experience when it hit theatres. Although I'd call my overall personal experience „A tale of two movies“. The first „movie/experience“ was the one we all couldn't wait for. The „mighty“ conclusion of The Skywalker Saga on the big screen. It's a tale of a long anticipated moment in cinema history and an action packed adventure, that successfully pressed the pedal to the metal far enough to create a sense of thrill and wonder for the time being. I remember walking out of TROS after the first time, saying to a stranger „well, that wasn't too shitty after all“. Although I felt overrun by the pace of the movie I generally felt highly entertained. The second and third viewing even solidified that impression as I was prepared and able to fill in more and more of the gaps TROS clearly leaves for the audience to fill in. The Star Wars fan in me caught up with the breakneck speed of the journey, I embraced the majority of choices without overthinking them. Unfortunately, the home video release broke the spell of TROS for me to a big degree. Without the „force“ of the big screen the movie came apart piece by piece, perhaps with the exception of Babu Frik - the most hilarious character in recent Star Wars history - and a few story beats here and there! While Indiana Jones would have been proud of the adventurous nature of the plot, a ton of scenes do not receive enough screentime to marinade properly. What still worked in the cinema, lacked a lot of substance at a closer look. Sometimes to the point of throwaway lines. Right after the opening crawl we are being thrown into the storm of Kylo Ren heading for Mustafar, killing a bunch of strange inhabitants and taking a trip to meet the emperor. What could easily have filled a 45 minute episode of a series, got crammed into a rushed montage that made it hard to follow and connect the dots, even if you know your „lore“. Over and over again TROS throws settings, scenes and characters at you, without lending them proper or any depth at all while one hunt for a MacGuffin chases the next. Too often the movie provides a too shallow experience with characters we are supposed to root for. Like empty calories in a bad breakfast cereal we get to spend little to no quality time with heroes and villains alike. While Rey, Finn and Poe seem to have grown a significant amount of comeradery off-screen (!), characters like Hux, General Pryde, Zorii Bliss, Rose Tico, Jannah, Maz Kanata and a bunch of others have little to do with almost no character depth. Even the (admittedly cool) appearance of Lando feels utterly brief, shallow and unearned. And don't get me started on the off-screen assembly of that massive galactic civil fleet at the end. A movie that wants to be more than the sum of its parts - and mere parts TROS is at this point- you just can't leave that kind of stuff to the imagination (or other media). Unfortunately in this case TROS has to go down that route since the entire background of that particular „part“ would probabably have taken another 15-20 minutes of indepth storytelling to really make it stick. Without the buzz of the cinematic rollercoaster experience TROS struggles to live up to the gravitas of ending The Skywalker Saga. For the most part it even fails to properly pull our emotional strings. To be honest, the entire trilogy to this point just didn't offer enough depth for that to happen. Granted, the Han Solo moment runs much much deeper than it seems at first glance - I actually like that scene a lot for the sake of its poetry! Also it's very touching to see Leia pass away in the movie. But do we really care for the new leads? Even in the theatre, when Rey and Kylo kissed each other at the end and Kylo died, I heard some people in the audience chuckle instead of sniffling silently! Well done, sequel trilogy! What an emotional journey you must have been! For the long haul, I think TROS, despite all its spectacle, reveals too much wasted potential. Potential that might get picked up one day by a Disney+ series or will even be told through various series, like the current course already indicates. So I want to finish my little deep dive the same way TROS functions as a movie. With an abbreviated rapid fire: -Palpatine is back: tell me more!? -Snoke was just a puppet: I don't mind! -Hyperspace skipping: flimsy concept, poorly executed and visually weak -Force powers: overpowered at times, relegated to a plot device at others -Chewie's fake death: neat if you don't see it coming, resolved far too quickly for lingering impact! -Knights of Ren: they exist, they can follow people... -Hux is a traitor: loved it, but the „execution“ was flat, or shall I say quick and painless? -C3PO gets wiped: wasted for laughs with the inevitable memory-restore -Rey climbing the death star wreck: well executed (Jedi: Fallen Order, anyone?) -Door in the smashed throne room: how does that still have power? -Lightsaber fight: very raw, great setting - I enjoyed it! -Finn and others having a „feeling“: tell me more!? -Final Order fleet: who, how, why, when? -Civilian fleet: is time travelling a thing in Star Wars now? Tell me more! Let's wait and see how much of this „shopping catalogue“ of a movie gets „adopted“ and explored by future Lucasfilm/Disney+ material. It'll be quite a tall order to tie-in a cohesive „story behind the story“ and I'm pretty sure they will have to resort to a mix of live action and animation stuff to really explore everything properly. For now I have a hard time watching The Rise of Skywalker with the same joy I experienced during its initial theatrical run. Maybe that's a temporary thing. I really hope so! Even more I hope Disney and Lucasfilm can turn the wheel around and live up to the missed potential that still lingers in this trilogy! Ultimately this might not really be „a tale of two movies“, but „a tale of a movie that should have been two“.

I'm a casual Star Wars fan, there are some parts of the universe I love, other's I'm not a fan of... Having said that, I love this movie!!!!!

Yes. It would’ve been dope if they would have made the first order the new “rebels” of the thriving new republic.

Great conversation! I thought they did a fantastic job setting up the new trilogy with the Force Awakens, but it was very apparent with the release of the 8th and 9th they didn't have a plan where they wanted the trilogy to go. The 7th and 8th movies are technically one giant 4 hour movie since no time passes between the two. It's literally just one Episode. George Lucas said that Star Wars revolves around Anikan Skywalker the tragedy of him being lured to the dark side and becoming vader and then later bringing balance to the force as prophesied. With that being said, Anikan should have played a major plot point in the sequels at least as a force ghost at some point. The sequels felt very disconnected from the first 6 films, more like fan fiction. The only one that felt connected was the Force Awakens. I don't blame J. J. when he had to herald a movie that needed to be rewritten due to Carrie's death, tight deadlines, but also because he somehow had to tie up loose ends of an entire "trilogy" in one movie since the 8th movie did nothing to move the plot forward or answer questions. He was forced to write two movies into one movie in little time. I hate to say it, but although I didn't like the Last Jedi, I think the trilogy would have ended on a higher note if the 9th movie had been written and directed by Rian Johnson again. It would have felt more cohesive with his vision rather than J. J. trying to revive what Rian Johnson killed. Otherwise, they do make for great entertainment, and in the end they are just movies.

I got a poodle puppy dropping a slobery ball on my phone as I type. Fun talk looking forward to the rankings. I'll try and figure out my own. When I first saw ROS I felt pandered too, but had fun along the way. I cried seeing Wedge because I knew the behind the scenes stuff that kept him from appearing before. Second viewing left me feeling less pandered to and more emotionally manipulated which soured things. Now I don't know how to feel about the movie.

I love the beginning with the falcon in that ice cave place and the lightspeed skipping. The rest of the movie I can live without.

Nice ! Been waiting to get off work to watch this ! Been really enjoying these videos ! But this movie upsets me and unfortunately I can’t enjoy it even as a popcorn flick. The line “Somehow Palpatine returned” just scrambles my brain because it showed me they were creatively bankrupt and didn’t even care

I liked the stuff they did with the force in this trilogy kylo stopping Lazer force Skype Luke’s hologram across the galaxy snatching the necklace. Is there any stuff you liked that they did with the force?

What's next for you guys? It would be cool if at some point, you guys talked about clone wars series. Each video focuses on one season. That would be fun

Fascinating discussion as always, as your upcoming "most enjoyable" rankings will be. However, I have to take issue with the conversation around the 14 minute mark of this video, concerning Luke throwing away his sabre in TLJ, then telling Rey she should have more respect for it in TROS. The Luke and Yoda scene, which might possibly be my favourite scene in all of Star Wars, makes his words to Rey in episode IX, even more impactful. I hear a some people say that IX retcons a lot of VIII. If that is the case, someone is going to have to give me some examples, as I just don't see it.

Confounding Michelle Maclaren with Patty Jenkins, the one who was supposed to direct Thor 2 too. They over praised a lot her with the first WW, when Maclaren, and Snyder, were the ones planning the movie. When WW 84 happens is when Jenkins showed her true colours.

List of things wrong with this movie (and this is just the main problems): 1. Rey is a Palpatine 2. Palpatine is back...with NO explanation. 3. Multiple fake out deaths. 4. Finn is reduced to just shouting "REY" the entire movie. 5. Rose's character is thrown in the garbage in this movie. 6. Egregious use of Avengers: End Game ending for the climax. 7. The majority of the movie is a series of, what turned out to be pointless, fetch quests. 8. Introducing new characters Zorii Bliss and Jannah (in the final Star Wars film) and doing NOTHING interesting with them. 9. Doing nothing with Finn being Force sensitive. 10. Hiring Chris Terrio to write the screenplay. One more thing that didn't make sense. When Finn, Rey and Poe meet Lando they fanboy over him, especially Finn. But in reality, you would think one or all them would want to punch Lando when they see him and say, "Where the fuck were you when we were getting slaughtered at the battle of Crate??" Their entire Resistance was dwindled down to almost nothing because no one answered the call for help. There was never any sense of urgency or desperation in these characters. No they're too busy making quips and having fun.

Canada is one of the countries that has Star on Disney Plus, which gives some of the Hulu originals and other adult content. We actually just got Deadpool 2 a few weeks ago

Wow, great timing. Just in time for the annual new Star Wars movie in December. Oh wait

Cotton candy movie - that's a spot on description of this film. I'm not sure if I was incorrectly reading the film, but the scene with Finn and Jannah sounds like the Force awoke within them as well as many others. This gives me some hope for Episodes 10-12 (if we ever get them) because maybe we will get to see Rey try to train a new order of Jedi or something along those lines. I don't know...I just hope Lucasfilm has a plan next time. Overall, my ranking of films based on levels of enjoyment would be: ANH, ESB, ROTJ, TFA, ROTS, TPM, ROS, TLJ, AOTC

You all cover almost all of my issues with the entire trilogy and most importantly this last film! I have serious issues with a lot of what JJ did or didn’t do and like Kristian says the BIGGEST issue is execution and planning. My 1 caveat that sheds light on and exacerbated the problems with this film is JJ Abrams having even LESS time to write and direct TROS than he did on TFA. I think a lot of us forgot about JJ needing extra time to finish The Force Awakens? That extension led to the now traditional (and better timed imo) new Star Wars in December. It’s not a valid excuse to completely give Abrams a pass but when compared to his other work you can definitely tell this was haphazardly slammed together and rushed. A byproduct of not having a master plan or outline for the entire trilogy!

I'm one of the people like Napzok who does love the sequel trilogy, though Rise of Skywalker is the one I struggle with most. Mostly I just wish the ending was executed differently (I love that fan-made scene with Anakin, Luke and all the force ghosts, I always tear up when I watch it lmao). That said, this was a nice discussion and I'm glad you all find something to enjoy in this movie. Also. You look great as Sith Eternal Harloff in the thumbnail 😅

The problem was instead of three years between each movie there was two. That meant the script for the next movie was written before the current one was released. Previously they had more time to work on the script and also do reshoots after principle photography. Before Lucas was able to see how audiences reacted to a movie, what they liked and didn't like. When Phantom Menace came out and Jar Jar was hated by fans Lucas minimized his role in the next movie. Bob Iger is the one who wanted a two year gap and also ROTS to be released his final year as Disney CEO so he is who I blame the most.

There no reason to get rid of trevorrow

The Rise of Skywalker is in my top 5 Star Wars movies. I absolutely love it, which I know is a controversial opinion to have these days and to answer Mike's question, I love all 3 sequel trilogy films together. Thanks so much again for an awesome discussion on this movie and thanks for doing this whole re-watch series! Can't wait for future discussions especially when Kenobi starts airing!

I agree with your take I wish kylo didn’t turn he was one of my favorite characters of all Star Wars and it wouldn’t have been a repeat of Jedi. But I love what driver did in his little bit of time as Ben solo

Oh and Deadpool is on Disney+ in Canada. They have the Star section on Disney+ that has the more mature content Deadpool, Sons if Anarchy, Family Guy, etc, etc.

In the booklet the came with the 4K it says that "Lando continues Luke's work on Pasaana to unravel the mystery of the Sith and their connection to the disappearance of his daughter" and that this was happening around the same time that Ben was turning to Snoke. Later it reads "the first people that The First Order targeted were leaders of the old Rebellion, they went for their kids." I'll never understand why there wasn't another 20-30 minutes added to this film for motivations and additional context. We all saw what that did for B v S. People were going to see the last Skywalker Saga movie whether it was 2:20 or 2:50.

Been thinking these past few days of Lord of the Rings (LOTR), which if you add up the Extended editions, it totals to about 12h of content. If you think about it, that is 1 season of 12 episodes. So within "1 season" they present to you one of the best stories ever, you care about all characters, incredible world building and a lot of emotion. Now imagine applying this treatment to Star Wars. I absolutely agree with you that you can tell the best stories on TV, (or streaming) and just the fact that you can achieve LOTR level of quality within 1 year should get us (and especially Lucasfilm) very excited and interested. The story of Revan for example could easily be told to a meticulous level on serialized form. Not everything has to be a movie.

I've always said I lovehate this movie. You guys summed it up perfectly!

I've loved this rewatch bravo to kristian and the crew for having a proper interesting discussion on all the films good and bad. The whole rewatch series has been fantastic to listen to with both the star wars and spiderman movies looking foward to the matrix rewatch!!!

It’s not the small stuff that bother me about 7,8,9. I actually like the new characters and think the movies are executed very well. It’s the big picture story that falls flat in the end. It turned out to be a carbon copy of 4,5,6. A Skywalker/Solo turns bad and joins the First Order/Empire while the Resistance/Rebellion fights to keep the Galaxy peaceful. The protagonist ends up redeeming the fallen Skywalker/Solo only to kill the Emperor at the end. Geez, they couldn’t think of anything original in 7,8,9?????

Not gonna lie have been wanting you to review this film ever since it came out. I agree completely you can nitpick this movie to death with everything you wish they would have done. It really throws off the whole trilogy because it just end up being a rehash. But, saying that id watch this movie all day long over the last jedi because it really is a fun popcorn movie to watch. I honestly get extremely bored watching the last jedi. -Luke

This was a great series of videos the gang did! Do the live action shows!

One thing I was hoping this film would’ve done was have the title of The Rise Of Skywalker be referring to the return of Anakin Skywalker as a force ghost and with Palpatine returning this means the Sith still exists which means the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, so that way you can have Anakin show up at the end and defeat Palpatine and the Sith since he’s the Chosen One, which you can also tie in the Mortis stuff from the Trevorrow Duel of the Fates script to explain the prophecy to the general public. I also would’ve had Anakin mentor Rey the most alongside Luke and Leia and give Anakin a large role in the film. And if you were to redeem Kylo I feel like the only person who could really persuade him to turn to the light would be his grandfather who he idolizes, Darth Vader aka Anakin, and Anakin could’ve have shown him the light and shown him that he went down a similar path Kylo does and show him a way to turn back to the light. That’s what I think would’ve been an improvement among many things in this film, along with Palpatine going into detail at some point how Plagueis taught Palpatine to cheat death. Those are my thoughts haha, sorry for how lengthy that was.

I enjoyed it. My litmus test was my kids a boy and girl who grew up with the ST. They loved FA, left the cinema before the end of TLJ and they loved ROS. Their faces at the end (a boy and girl) was an echo of mine at the end of ROTJ. This movie negates TLJ brutally at times but still cannot fathom the direction TLJ went in…

These rewatch series have been so fun and thought provoking. I've been excited to see everyone's opinions. For me, RoS is a mixed bag. Some good, some bad, nothing to far in either category to hate it. The parts that I didn't like (mostly the Emperor stuff and all the needless romance subplots that don't land) didn't hurt the stuff that I did like (I'm part of the problem, but I love all the Kylo scenes, the big dumb space battle, space horses, Babu Frick, and the farewell to Leia). I am 100% on board with you guys looking at the Duel of the Fates script and maybe reading some scenes out loud. Look, the MTS literally has a full Star Wars division. If each player took one role, no matter how big or small, and recorded those, and the Sith Council read the main three roles (Emperor Palpatine, Kylo Ren, and Rey, with Ken Napzok as the narrator), that's the audio drama of the year! Of course this is one fan asking for something massively complicated, but a guy can dream, right? In any case, this show is great and definitely the direction the channel should be going. Keep up the great work Kristian.

Also, Kristian, if they ever make something following Darth Revan, would you prefer a trilogy of movies or would you want it to be a limited run series? To me, kotor is the greatest SW game and I'm curious b/c I know you love it, too.

I have a lot of issues with this movie and yet... I teared up when Leia passed on. It still hit me harder than I expected it to. I also wanna say I love the whole idea of the Sith Eternal and having a Sith cult. The kind of stuff you wanna see out of an Old Republic spin off

The 2 words I can’t help but think and say when watching the sequels is WHAT IF. It feels like they ignore any prior Star Wars canon or basically make choices that say it didn’t matter

14:42-14:50. Here’s a what if. I’ve always thought this. Imagine instead of Ben seeing Han showing up to him we hear a voice calling out to him, he turns around and sees the ghost of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) the man who Ben worshipped when he was Darth Vader and then finding out that he turned good in the end. Would’ve been much more effective in my opinion

Imagine being a soldier called in for a briefing when your commander says: "Somehow Hitler returned."

Someone else (it may have been Marc Bernardin or Kevin Smith) wondered why they didn't restore Threepio's memory of the prequels. I think the reason is because in the lore, Lucas has said that Artoo is the ONLY one that knows the whole story, and restoring Threepio's memory would be a violation of his intent. At least that's my understanding. Again, in the lore, I think that it's Artoo who, many years later, narrates the story of the adventures of Luke Skywalker to the keeper of the Whills. And it's the keeper of the whills who is telling us this story from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away etc. So it's by design that Artoo is the only one who has his memory across the whole saga intact. At least, that's my understanding from Rinzler's 'making of' books.

Omg I love Mike. “I didn’t read that” lol

I'm loving McDonalds, going always when I feel it's right :) However didn't like this one either. Not as boring as The Last Jedi, but also odd and weird choices. Thankfully I am not a "completist". I am checking out all the other (live action) movies in a franchise but sticking to the ones which are relevant to me.

I am saying this with love and as a fan of Sith Council. My personal opinion and simple constructive criticism. This whole trilogy talk could have been more interesting with more opposing views discussing it rather than people who basically agree on almost every point. I know you tried with the Last Jedi one with having Reilly appear but it didn't quite work. It still felt like a one sided conversation. I still enjoyed them but it was basically only hearing how Kristian felt with people ultimately agreeing with him. It felt like a deep dive with folks who generally didn't enjoy the trilogy (honestly I'm in that camp too) but I feel it could have been cooler if on the council there was someone with the exact opposite view of the entire trilogy (someone who absolutely loved it). Hearing the two perspectives bounce back and forth could have been enlightening and maybe made me feel differently on some things. All that being said thank you for this show. I enjoy watching/listening every week.

Great rewatch series I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I disagree about Kennedy brining in Faloni. Gorge Lucus took Faloni under his wing years before he sold SW. Faloni was George's #1 draft pick. Kennedy inherited Faloni, she didn't discover or find him.

That 'the Emperor is back' moment at the beginning had me, and no doubt many others going 'errr, excuse me? WTF? When did THAT happen?....wh-when?...... wh-what the....sigh....' What a mess....but Daisy Ridley was great overall. JJ should've done the whole trilogy, ep 8 could've reintroduced the emperor...what....IF?????? 😑🤣🙌

Hey quick thing. There is an A missing from "Star" in the title.

Not trying to hate but yall should take a page out of Force Centers playbook when evaluating Star Wars. Glad you gave Ken a shout out. 🤙

Hahaha oh my god I forgot how bad TROS was, this was great guys.

I would have loved to see have seen a run down Coruscant in the other version...

Please do a reading of the Collin Trevarrow Duel of the Fates script. Honestly love that script so much more than Rise of Skywalker. Can't wait to hear all your thoughts on it

Watching this in 2024 😂😂😂 I will always love you guys and gal together!!! 👍🏾👏🏾👍🏾👊🏾

Yo Kristian have you really only read a short sypnosis of the duel of the fates script? I highly recommend reading the full script.

Rey does get flustered when Ren has his shirt off during a Force “Skype” sesh. I think that’s in “ TLJ”

Let me start by saying I've been enjoying the hell put of the Star Wars and Spiderman rewatches. You guys have done a fantastic job. It's been really fun to listen too. This last film was so disappointing to me. Like you said it just seemed all thrown together and became a big mess in the end with the split Fandom. I wrote before I think one of the most disappointing things is with all the Vader worship by Ren is we never got an Anakin Force ghost. It wouldve been awesome to see Anakin appear to Kylo/Ben and have that conversation with him. How he was wrong but could be redeemed (even though they should've never redeemed him). Or I think the fans would've gone crazy seeing a Luke and Anakin Force ghost come to help Rey in some form. This one is the hardest for me to watch cause of riding with this saga from the beginning back when ot all started to see how it just seemed scotch taped together. Any ways looking forward to your guys next rewatch. Batman series would be cool. I enjoy what you guys do.

If I could get one redo in film histroy it would be this trilogy, heck if I couldn't get the whole trilogy, I would at least have this redone.

Loved these discussions on the new trilogy.

Best part of this was the Napzok name drop. ForceCenter rules

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Kylo did redeem himself in the Duel Of The Fates script, but just at the very end before death. For most of the movie he's the main villain.

Funnily enough I definitely think you could make S1 of the Mandalorian into a two and a half hour film. There was a lot of filler and adventure of the week vibes in that season. Season 2 not so much.

The forgotten Collin Trevorrow script is a million times better than this movie. I dont want JJ to ever touch Star Wars or any one of my favorite franchises again

I also like that the last thing Ben does is bring someone he loves back to life. It’s a fun reversal of his line in TFA when he’s praying to Vader’a helmet. “I will finish what you started.” Anakin started as Vader to do just that, save those he loved from Death.

You guys definitely should review the duel of the fates script

If we get an animated Star Wars What If series, I would love to see a feature length What If episode that adapts Colin Trevorrow's Episode 9.

This film should shown to film students on how not to edit a film, how not to write a screen play, and how not to end a film franchise

So here is my issue: TFA: Kylo turns to the dark side, TLJ: He is conflicted but in the end ultimately chooses the dark side there is no plagueis, no paps, no snoke, he himself makes the decision. TROS: Although he is “supreme leader” he lets paps control him for some reason, he is no longer the big bad. The focus should of been like in Duel of Fates treatment: Kylo is the big bad, he does not get redeemed. In doing so the third act and a final fight between Rey and Kylo would of been a fitting end to the trilogy.

TROS was my favourite of the three and maybe by far tbh. That being said, the trilogy was obvs a disaster. I also like Rey. I think it’s sick that she is Palpatine’s GD.

Commenting this because Mike told us commenters to reach out if this was this case.. I don’t just love all three of these new movies, I love ALL OF THE STAR WARS MOVIESSSS, because I just love the franchise! Yeah there’s things to nitpick in all of them. The prequels probably still frustrate me with storytelling more than the sequels but they’re seen more as redeemed because of The Clone Wars. But. It’s still all Star Wars to me. It’s my favorite franchise. I would take the “worst” Star Wars movies over my least favorite mcu movies. It’s just a franchise that I love from the characters, score, storyline which is continuing to grow and expand even more through TV! I was ecstatic coming out of every single one of this new trilogy! Solo was the one I was the most “meh” on with my reaction, but still found so much I enjoyed. These are also the only 5 SW films I ever got to see in the Cinema too. So seeing a Star Wars film at the movies is still a crazy hype experience for me! A big reason why I wish Ken was here for all these as it would’ve helped me feel like I heard more of my voice throughout these newer films 😂 either way, still really enjoyed this rewatch and can’t wait for Boba Fett!!!

Oh yeah.... why does death star door still work?? Open and closes.