#ep ix predictions

[nonhumanhottie]

The bad batch season 3 premier reactions

Ep 1 - confined

I fully forgot about this premier until I was eating lunch and it hit me oh I'm so intrigued

Palps being front and centre in the D+ poster delights me

Not them starting with tech's death lol

Why is it so fucking dark it's animation you have the ability to make it visible so easily

Omega baby I'm so sorry yeah it sucks to be a star wars main character huh

That's some sweeney todd coloured blood lmao

While palpatine cloning nonsense in ep ix is... a Choice, and this justification in other shows doesn't fix it, I just love palpatine shenanigans

Oh Omega has a pony tail... she's been there a while

'I wouldn't think twice about leaving you behind' he lied

The way this season starts with a child prisoner just going through it is brutal

Episode 2 - paths unknown

Isa is spreading her legs so wild on that throne what a power move

The boys!! Oh they look like fucking shit these poor bastards lol

Child clones out in the wild nooo poor babies

I love their little kiwi accents omg and they sound like actual teen boys this VA is great

Again with the bad lighting

Okay but why are space ships apparently so easy to steal in this galaxy?

Oh hey the writers remembered Hunter's abilities

Okay this plotline was a little predictable but the boys are charming at least

Episode 3 - shadow of tantiss

I hope this episode has something real juicy in it

I'm not really a fan of Crosshair's character so I kinda love seeing him miserable lmaoooo

Feels like Emerie doesn't have the best hygienic practices. A blood sample without cleaning the the skin???

Omg Nala Se telling Omega to leave oooohhh

PALPATINE!! SLAY!! What's this cheeky bastard up to?

Project necromancer???

I do love Crosshair's mean little voice

I live for how unphased Omega is about the Emperor

Oh Palpatine... God love him even his backup plans have backup plans

I do miss his slay outfits from when he was chancellor

Not Crosshair shading Tech like that

Omega murdered those troopers lmao

Does Omega have a high M-Count???

Oh bitch Omega is force sensitive

Overall a... fine premier lol

My favourite part was Palpatine but story beats were kinda predictable

[renofstarlight]

Remember the days before The Rise of Skywalker? When we were all so optimistic and so many people wrote so much good Ben Solo meta and predictions about what ep IX might have?

Those were the days.

[heliotrope-r]

A friendly reminder...

...that Rey shutting the door on Kylo at the end of TLJ and leaving him convinced that she has no compassion left for him is PRECISELY the thing that will make Kylo’s ultimate redemption possible.

If Kylo had been left with any reason whatsoever to believe that Rey still had tender feelings for him, if she’d left him any hope of getting her back, he might be tempted to put on a show of contrition, or at least attempt to make peace with her, without intending to change his ways or acknowledge that he was morally wrong at all. That would be the worst possible outcome of the bond that he and Rey shared in TLJ, and would also justify all the apprehension that many fans feel about the idea of Reylo ever happening. Because if Kylo changes “for Rey”, then he hasn’t really changed, period. 

Fortunately, that won’t and can’t happen now. Because Kylo has lost all hope that he can get Rey back, because he believes he has well and truly blown it and she wants nothing more to do with him, then any change of heart he may undergo in IX, any turn he makes toward repentance, will have to be sincere and genuine. He won’t be doing it for Rey or even because of her, because he has no reason to believe he has even the slightest chance of winning her back. So if he repents, he’ll do it knowing that it’s going to cost him all the power he’s fought so hard to gain, and that there may well be no reward for doing it, no forgiveness from Rey or his mother or anyone. He’ll do it simply because he’s convinced that it’s the right and only thing to do.

And that’s what will make it possible for Rey (and the audience) to believe in Ben Solo again. Because his return to the Light won’t be something she does for him, or he does for her. It’ll be painful and costly and intensely personal and real.

[wanderingspacedragon]

The Sword Reforged

From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.

This speculation/meta can be tacked onto my Hearts of Kyber as I will be going into further detail of why I think Anakin’s/Legacy Saber will be mended/made into something new in Episode IX. Again this is all for fun and I really don’t know if this going to happen. I’m just making predictions and what I think may happen in the future Star Wars film. More below the cut!

So before I went over what kyber crystals are and how they “choose” their owners based on what we’ve seen already in Star Wars Lore. What I’m going to go over is how the Legacy Saber is based off story tropes, motifs, and mythology. There are few things that have been in all three trilogies so far. Two of them have been R2-D2 and C3PO which I find fascinating cause they’ve been in all the films (what if they are the ones retelling the story at the end of all of this). Another is Anakin’s saber. The only movies it is not in is EP I: The Phantom Menace and EP VI: Return Of The Jedi. In Ep I it was not made yet and in Ep V it was lost after Luke’s duel with Vader. What I find interesting about Anakin’s first saber is that it is “The Chosen One’s” lightsaber. This was the kyber crystal that was attuned to Anakin who was prophesied to bring Balance to the Force hence The Chosen One. But the sword was taken from him by Obi Wan after he lost to their duel on Mustafar. In a way, this follows the trope of a weapon failing its owner cause they were not worthy. Remember Kyber crystals are naturally light side attuned and there is a reason the Sith bleed their sabers, because a Jedi’s saber would resist or not always obey a dark side user. So they force their will on the crystal, thus turning it red and dominating it. Now we haven’t seen direct evidence of a saber not heeding a dark sider’s call except maybe we have...

Oh yeeeeaaaah…

Funny how “The Chosen One’s” saber would only answer the Force pull of Rey’s and not Kylo’s in The Force Awakens. I love that this is calling back the pulling the sword from the stone. This trope has been around forever and what makes me believe the Legacy saber had its inspiration from two swords from mythology. I believe it shares its inspiration that also inspire Tolkien’s Narsil/Andúril.

One sword that is the inspiration is Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur and where the sword and stone comes from. Excalibur has two origin stories one where Arthur pulls the sword from the anvil and stone from the Merlin story. The other is it’s given to Arthur by the Lady in the Lake, but we’ll focus on the former instead of the later. The sword stuck in something and only the worthy may pull it out is so old a myth that it pops up several times. There is even a saint with a similar story attached to it, the Legend of the Sword in the Stone of San Galgano.

The other sword that inspired Tolkien and I think the Legacy Saber is Sigmund’s sword, Gram from Norse mythology. What’s funny about this sword was it too was stuck into something and only the worthy owner can pull it. It was placed into a tree by Odin and any one who could pull it out can keep it as a gift and would find that it was the finest sword ever held. Sigmund was the only one who was able to pull it out. Later it was broken in half in Sigmund’s last battle and his wife saved the pieces as the sword was suppose to be passed down to their son, Sigurd. Their son reforges the sword and slays a dragon with the new Gram. There’s more to this mythology but it is a saga, the Völsunga saga to be exact and I highly recommend looking it up if you would like to find out more.

What is neat about the Reforged Blade trope is the symbolism of it. Taking something from the past and making something new and/or repairing it. I feel this going to be part of the message going into Episode IX.

These new Star Wars films had a tough task with transitioning of the old characters to the new generation. The Prequels didn’t have this issue as they were working from characters from the Original Trilogy and fleshing out their backstories to how they become how they were in Episode IV, V, and VI. The Skywalker Saga is a Generational Saga and is following its similar format with three distinct generations.

1. The first-generation protagonist is an immigrant.

Anakin Skywalker was born a slave in a world outside of the Republic control and is brought into the Jedi Order. He is taught by Obi Wan and the Order. He fights for the Republic and the Jedi Order under it morphs into the Empire and starts the major conflict.

2. The second-generation protagonist are assimilated in the host culture.

Luke Skywalker grows up on Tatooine knowing only the control of the Empire even though it doesn’t affect his life until two rebel Droids show up throwing him into the conflict. He learns to be a Jedi like his father before him and takes up their cause. His twin sister Leia is a princess from Alderaan who is already fighting for the Rebel cause and joins Luke in helping to bring down the Empire.

3. The third-generation protagonist learn to appreciate their ancestral heritage.

Ben Solo, son of Leia and Han, has his past hidden by his parents and Luke who do not tell him of his grandfather’s history fully. Ben falls to the Dark Side like his grandfather and relates more to him for he feels alienated by his intermediate family. He is now at the stance that the past should be erased cause for him it just causes pain and turmoil. Rey has hidden her own past from herself because it is too painful. She uses the stories of old to help her carry on and give her hope. Finn had his past stripped from him as he was stolen as a child by the First Order. He ran away from the First Order when he couldn’t kill for them. He too draws hope from the past, but hasn’t come to terms with his own past.

The whole Sequel trilogy is the new generation coming to terms with their own past and the past generations. Let’s take the message that Kylo Ren was pushing in TLJ at the beginning. 

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”

We already know that he will be proven wrong since Luke’s sacrifice already showed this. He thought as Kylo did that the Jedi should end because of the errors they did. But he learned that it is the mistakes of the past that helps make and bring new answers and solutions for the future. Like Yoda said of the new generation 

“They are what we grow beyond.”

The broken Legacy Saber represents the past. A past that had mistakes made and wounded others. That is why I believe it will be made into something new using the broken pieces. Mended and healing the wounds of old. The Saber will be what ties the past to the future.

This new Trilogy has been hard on some in the fandom. It challenged the past films, but I think many misconstrue that what TLJ was saying was that it should be thrown out. No, what it was trying to say was that the Jedi and heroes of old were flawed and made mistakes. But these mistakes are what will help the next generation learn and grow. It’s a hard lesson and its uncomfortable to have someone you idolize not only not take center stage after a long period, but to point out they are flawed. However that does not make them any less of heroes.

TLJ had a lot dark turns and was pretty bleak, but it has to be so the end film can be more satisfying with its conclusion.

[melkorstars]

(Sw probable poster leak)

Let’s talk about Kylo holding up his sword in a defensive position instead of an ofensive one for the first time? He’ll not attack the Resistance, he’ll help defend it. Bendemption is coming the that’s the tea.

[stormpilot-and-finnpoe-trash]

Me rebblogging every leaked Stormpilot image

[reylohasmyheart]

the kylo-dies-but-rey-brings-him-back-to-life scenario for IX feels so viscerally, completely right I cannot even put it into words. 

[teos-den]

May be an absurdly long shitpost but...

I haven't seen this being discussed before, so I wanted to tackle this.

Let's talk about Vader's and Kylo's masks and their respective arcs.

(Disclaimer: first attempt at writing something resembling a meta. Sorry if this feels all over the place.)

First things first, they're both destroyed by now in the story. (duh)

Vader's was destroyed by Luke (his son and catalyst for his redemption) in his funeral AFTER he was redeemed.

(Awkward elevator music plays in the background)

Kylo destroyed it on his own, after being humiliated by his master, BEFORE he was redeemed.

Vader had no thoughts of going back to the Light, even after meeting his son and being given a second chance by him. He was so crippled by grief and guilt for the death of his wife and there was no reason for him to go back as he thought.

Until his son was in danger. He saved himself by saving his son and then dying. Pretty convenient for a man that had to face a lot of crimes against the galaxy (I'm not being passive-aggressive, that's the truth). His redemption wasn't built up from the beginning of the OT, as Star Wars (later named "A New Hope") may have never got a sequel (*laughs hysterically from the future*). It was pretty much a reaction to the fact that his son was about to die. He did not only save Luke, Luke saved him too.

That's why Luke got to be the one to destroy the mask of Vader. Because Anakin didn't get the chance to save himself, his son did.

(Seriously Tina, this is the best gif of Anakin's funeral you could find? Shame on you, SHAME!)

Back to Benny-Boy now. His redemption is pretty much foreshadowed all over VII, VIII and all other extra material outside the movies, so... Yeah. No sudden, flick-of-a-button, last minute redemption for him.

His mask is an attempt to mimic the man Snoke thought he has to become, a Vader 2.0 and Benny-Boy believed in that, only to be mocked about trying to fit the mold of his grandfather. Killing his father didn't sent him tumbling down the Dark Side cliff, it made the crack for the light to come in even bigger, as "the deed split him to the bone".

What else was he mocked for? Yes, Rey, that untrained scavenger that managed to defeat him in a Lightsaber duel. The girl that according to the TFA novelisation, he had grown compassionate of because of their shared feeling of loneliness and abandonment, and in TLJ... Well, you know.

(Avert your eyes, children. Uncle Luke doesn't want you to see this in here👆)

And the mask is destroyed, thus showing that he strolls away from the Vader-idol and closer to becoming his own man(by questioning the big bad wise authoritarian guy as the teenager he is coded as in TLJ), closer to his redemption. No one helped him break it or broke it for him, he did it himself.

(Another thing: Anakin got his mask removed by his son when he wanted to look at him with his own eyes. But who removed Kylo's mask when he wanted the "girl from Jakku" to see him as something more than a monster? Benny-Boy himself.)

(I mean, who could possibly resist to this 5-course meal of a man? Ahem, Tina, contain yourself. This is no post for thirst.)

Where am I going with this mask destroying non-sense you might ask. Well, what I am saying is that...

Vader was saved by his son. Kylo will have to save himself.

(I know that the topic of Kylo saving himself has been discussed a lot of times before this, but here's another take on it.)

Don't get me wrong, of course there are and there are going to be reasons for him to come back (the guilt and grief of killing his father, the love for his mother and his family, his growing connection with Rey, the need to feel less lonely and miserable), someone or some event will trigger his upward trajectory, but he'll have to make the decision that he is worth saving, that he is not the monster he believes he is for himself, pretty much as he destroyed his mask on his own.

To sum this up, what I am saying is that Vader got his mask destroyed by the one who redeemed/saved him, while Kylo destroyed his mask himself for the reasons (and/or the people) that are pivotal to his redemption arc and are most probably be the ones for whom he will think that he is worth saving, the people that "will be the spark, that will light the fire, that will bring Ben back to life", pretty much what I mentioned three paragraphs before.

(I'm not coding Ben Solo's comeback as a return to the Light Side of the Force, as darkness is needed to achieve balance, more likely adopting a "grey" stance in the Force)

Of course Anakin's redemption was just as impactful and had many underlying feelings that drove him to make this choice, I am not trying to belittle his selfless sacrifice for his son, of course he was worthy of a redemption, everybody deserves a second chance in life. I am just pointing out the differences between his arc and his grandson's (because there are a lot of people that want Kylo to have the exact same arc with Anakin, despite being two different characters that grew up in different circumstances, being set as inversed parallels. I mean, c'mon guys).

But redemption is not about being worthy of it.

It's about believing in it.

And Benny-Boy has a hard road ahead of him. He has crossed a part of it but the most difficult part might be the one that awaits him in IX. And to quote our favourite Uncle Luke:

"No one is ever really gone."

Thank you for tolerating with me.

Yours faithfully, tin-a-can

(P.S: This is my first attempt at writing something of a meta, sorry if this seems botched or random, those are my thoughts on the "mask topic"and how I feel about it." Feel free to add your thoughts)

[iamaboatyouarethesea]

I hope jj abrams brings back kylos ugly down-the-middle scar. Its not like the sequels care abt consistency anyways

[diariesofareyloshipper]

Poll! Ep IX - time jump or no?

Comment your thoughts below!  What are you hoping for? 

[myflairway]

Kylo Ren, you were so close to being able to stay with Rey after you fought the praetorian guards together, so close. But fear not, that scene is just the beginning of something even more special between Kylo and Rey, the ending of that battle scene won’t define their entire relationship and character arcs. It is merely a starting point. They have changed and evolved throughout the entire film and her rejection isn’t going to stop him from needing her. And her disappointment in him isn’t going to stop her from caring for and believing in Ben Solo.

[raw-untamed]

Ok but imagine this:

The Resistance are under attack by Hux’s army- Finn, Rey and Poe are finally cornered- there’s little to no hope left for them in the moment-

Suddenly stormtroopers get put down left and right, blaster shots are deflected and reversed back into the enemies, a man illuminated by the red of his saber yells to Resistance crew to “MOVE! RUN! SAVE YOURSELVES!”

Finn’s eyes widen- “Is that...”

Poe cuts him off- “Kylo Ren.”

“No.”

Rey whispers.

“It’s Ben.”

[i-swear-im-unbiased]

TROS LEAKS

Ya'll I'm frustrated as shit cause I dug too deep. Now I think the leaks are true and Kylo is the main villain, Palpy is just a hologram. WTH. "Fight the evil" is the "hopeful message" that will be broadcasted from 3PO's memory with help of a giant antenna of the death star. Like wtf?????? Also that oracle advises Kylo that Rey is a threat to his rule. KYLO WILL BE NOTHING BUT A FAILED VILLAIN. The Skywalker bloodline is officially over. If this shit is true, I am more HOPELESS than ever.

[heliotrope-r]

But do you believe or think that Rey herself feels nothing or no compassion at all towards Ben at the end of TLJ, when she closed the door at him? I don’t want to think that Rey will ONLY have compassion for him when he does embraces to be Ben Solo and will not help him at all in his conflict until he fully embraces his true identity like her compassion and love is conditional and it would make her a very cold person.

Sorry, I should have clarified -- the TLJ novelization makes plain that Kylo *believes* Rey no longer has compassion for him, or at least he can’t see any compassion in her face. But that’s a far cry from canon actually saying that Rey no longer cares about him. I think her wistful, even lonely expression at the end of the film, first as she’s watching Finn cover up Rose and then as she contemplates the lightsaber that she and Ben broke between them, says a lot more about her true feelings. She misses him badly, and she still wishes she knew how to help him.

So I don’t think that Ben is going to find Rey cold or dismissive of him when they next encounter one another, but I do think it’s likely that he won’t have any significant contact with her until he’s already taken his first steps toward repentance. I think that’s actually important for their relationship, and it has nothing to do with Rey being cold or unfeeling toward Ben, only with him being ashamed of the way he’s behaved and feeling that he doesn’t deserve her love or have any right to ask for it. (I can imagine “Unca Wanwo” might be some help with this, if Ben goes to him first -- as I think he well may in IX.)

As for Rey’s love being “conditional” on Ben’s repentance, I don’t think it is. I think she loves him regardless, and that’s what’s causing her sorrow right now. But she’s absolutely doing the right thing by not allowing herself to express her love for Ben openly until he stops doing evil things, and hurting himself and the other people she loves in the process.

[wanderingspacedragon]

Episode IX Prediction

Last movie will just be a nature documentary about Porgs and their struggle to survive on their home world of Ahch-To, all narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

[lostlux]

Here is my speculation based on the Episode IX teaser trailer! December can’t get here fast enough!