#tros speculation

[pileofsith]

Apparently a commission I did way back when The Force Awakens was just releasing its initial promo images is...

the very first Reylo fanart.

[pacificwanderer]

Soooooo what are your thoughts on the Rey film?

Hey Nonnie,

I have a lot of feelings LOL. None of my ire is directed at you, and I'm trying not to get too worked up given that we know who the director will be and that Daisy will be in it (everything is meant in a general sense, and it's just my feelings on the matter so whatever). Also, given their track record with directors and writers.... we'll see how it all ends up going!

As far as story, well...

So this is such a coincidence, given that I just saw Su//zume and was thinking that if anything that follows up TRoS ISN'T at least thematically similar to that movie, I don't want it. It still holds.

This is my interpretation, and if others don't agree. That's fine. I'm not really looking to argue with anyone or win anyone over lol. People are allowed to have different interpretations of media, but for me, TRoS didn't work. Both as a fan of the ST and as a lifelong fan of SW. And I don't know how they plan on moving forward with that fucking albatross weighing them down! I really don't!

My problem was and remains that TRoS IS NOT REY'S STORY or really any of the ST characters, it's all focused on the past and that's not a great way to build a point to go forward from. Hell, it's not really even a story so much as characters moving from one set piece to another in an effort to disguise how it's a movie that's basically serving one purpose: address and make up for prior criticism (mostly from re//ddit and prolific you//tubers).

I could go point by point about how that film was set up to make up for "disappointing" certain fans with how TLJ went, but I don't have the time rn for that (I have a lot of work to do in the next few days and not much time, but here i am on tumblr lol). I'm sure it's been done to death, anyway, but people far more eloquent than I.

That film is and was and ever will be is a reactionary film that was made to be an answer to very specific criticism from a very specific subset of the fandom, and it failed. Not only to address their criticisms but to stand on its own as a film. That story takes Rey, takes her character and her story, and reskins her to be Luke 2.0.

But they didn't want that. Those fans didn't want her to be a stand-in for Luke. They didn't want her to symbolically be a Sky//walker, they wanted her to BE one via BIRTH (Luke's daughter or whatever). What we got was insulting to those fans and to fans of TLJ. It's one of the more blatant examples of pandering that I can think of (even if it's badly done), and I really don't know if I'm ever gonna get over it entirely lol. Like I've mostly moved on because there are storytellers out there busting their ass telling stories that deserve to be told, so I have other things to focus on.

Rey's story needs to be her own, and I don't know how they're going to accomplish that given what's happened in TRoS. She's not her own character anymore. She's just... a vessel. Fuck I hate that. I hate saying that! I HATE IT! But that comes from the creators themselves! I love Rey! I wouldn't have written like three-quarters of a million words of fanfic about her world otherwise! AND THEY DID NOT. AND IT SHOWS.

And it's personally offensive to me that they took a character that I loved THE WAY SHE WAS and tried to make her fit for people who were committed to hating her from the start!!!! How dare they! And not just her, but what they did with the rest of the ST characters makes me so fucking angry i have a hard time being chill about it lol.

Anyway, I have some reservations about their ability to craft a tale that's going to honor her character and not just be some sort of way for Luke to jump in and take over the narrative again. As he's done before and will do again (hi there, man//do, nice luke you got there for no fucking reason).

Anyway, I very much try to keep to my own corner of the fandom because I just don't have the energy for much these days, so I'm sure other people have different feelings about it all. I hope it goes well! I doubt it will! Like Andor was great, but Tony is a great storyteller, and I don't think the person they've tacked on to finish the Rey script is capable of doing her justice (sorry bro, PB is good, but it's tragic, do I want that for Rey??? no).

Storytelling should be the first and foremost thing they're focusing on, and... I don't really trust them in that regard anymore. The SW ip is too all over the place, and there's a certain note of cynicism that just seems to infect everything these days. I'm fucking tired of the american monomyth, i'm tired of campbell redux (with no deeper thought or criticism of the aforementioned, just shallow retelling to tick of fucking plot points and NOTHING MORE).

It just... feels like they're trying to find their way without really thinking about what got them to this point. I hope it doesn't suck, but if it does, then there's always fanfic.

PERSONALLY idgaf about rebuilding the gd jedi temple, so i hope THAT changes because it's been done and they fucked up REPEATEDLY like how many movies do we really need of that!!!?? God, there's a whole wide sw universe out there, and they make it feel so small.

So fucking small. What a waste.

TLDR:

Anyway! Hope it works out for anyone who's interested. If anyone's really interested in how I'd like a post-tros narrative to go, please go see su//zume. i fucking adore it to bits and pieces.

Cheers, Nonne!

[rviner]

@dxrkenedheights loki x skoll - school house

-

"Tilsynelatende er den kloke broren her oppe et sted." Loki chimes as he climbs the stairs in the building, a grin already on his face before his eyes even meet the sight of Skoll. Laughter strikes and Loki's arms extend wide when he rushes towards his brother, a giddiness that has stuck to him for the entirety of this day as he finds them one by one. "Jeg hørte at du hadde alle de andre og ledet dem over hele verden." he says in both pride and awe, because not many people would say a Jansen is a leader. Skoll has always been a little different though, five younger brothers at his heels and going wherever he went. "Thorin ledet også ulver. Kanskje er dagen kommet for oss til å innse at vi tilbyr mye mer enn å slåss." Loki only speculates this in jest, a coarse laughter following when he embraces his older brother tightly. Keen and fond and mournful slaps to Skoll's back follow, a squeeze because he is always been something of a father. "Jeg savnet deg. Jeg kan ikke tro at du forlot meg og Thorin." he adds with a playful smirk once he pulls away, inspecting his brother's features in a mock frown. "Å, du har blitt gammel."

[narcopharmacist]

As fillers for my days when I don't read the current fic I'm still into right now entitled Between Dreams & Temptations by tasogareban (because I have been busy with studying and school shit that I think of reading fanfic a distraction, + my anxiety won't let me read because reading fanfics is a ME time), I watched video essays about Reylo, and about the last episode of thr sequel I have yet to watch (because I have not finished the aforementioned fanfic, and this fic is set after between TFA and TLJ so I don't want to cloud my mind with TROS, knowing how it ends already).

The first Reylo video essay I watched was entitled Reylo Theory Explained to the Haters | Why Rey and Kylo Ren Together Makes Sense by The Den of Nerds. It was an OK take, and he said he took his content inspiration from a 3 part series by Vincent Vendetta, so I went ahead and watched those as well. I liked Vincent Vendetta's videos more, and these videos were released after the first movie, episode 8, The Force Awakens. When I read the comments I think people were just speculating / predicting about Reylo happening in the next movie. It was a really good watch. I can't believe Star Wars official posters/merch hinted so much Reylo 😭

Links!

Reylo Explained Part 1 - Vincent Vendetta

Reylo Explained Part 2

Reylo Explained Part 3

---

Last night, I watched what I thought was a video talking about Reylo in TROS, but she talked about TROS in general.

Video title: Oh no! The Rise of Skywalker was real bad :( by Jenny Nicholson

This was hilarious 😂 And I recently just contemplated about whether watching TROS would be even worth my time. The way she talked about it the story felt like it's going to be just a wild goose chase (with the map and Palpatine). It sounds like the movie's premise is really bad.

The comments on the video are so funny tho!

Who are you?

I'm Rey.

Rey who?

Reydio GAGA

---

I already know what happens to Reylo, well, most especially Ben, so I feel like if I watch TROS I'll just have to take it with a grain of fucking salt, and just watch it for the Reylo bond scenes and the kiss.

I've already bookmarked fix-it fics post-TROS for Reylo 😭😭🥴

---

Currently I'm watching Reylo: A Complicated History by Joe Brennan. This was released in 2021, so quite fresh from the last movie of the sequel.

---

I am also going crazy about Adam Driver edits on Tiktok like I cannot stop thinking about Ben Solo like 😮‍💨

This was the edit that started it all for me. Hearing Kali Uchis reminded me of the song she had with Tyler the Creator, and now that song is something I dedicate to Reylo 😭

Song: See You Again by Tyler the Creator

Kali's part:

Can I get a kiss?

And can you make it last forever?

I said I'm 'bout to go to war (Uh-huh)

And I don't know if I'ma see you again

Can I get a kiss? (Can I?)

And can you make it last forever? (Can you?)

I said I'm 'bout to go to war (I'm 'bout to)

And I don't know if I'ma see you again

[dgcatanisiri]

I speculated a while back that JJ Abrams' very involvement is what truly marks why TLJ gets a pass for things simply carried on into TROS, that TROS only took things put into the sequels by the prior film and advanced them, so the ire really should be there, but, because JJ Abrams creates mystery boxes without including a solution in the box, and audiences in general are tired of it, HE gets the brunt of the anger of following elements put into the sequels by TLJ and Rian Johnson.

Another thing that kinda builds on that, at least from my perspective, is that... I don't really think ANYTHING could have spared TROS, because I legitimately feel that it was more of a "written to assuage the shareholders, just give them what they want" script than a "I passionately believe in and have put my genuine effort in to" script, where the executives at Disney gave a list of demands to include in the script and, as a result of that, had to adhere to a predetermined shape before ANYONE could write the script. Especially considering that JJ wasn't even anticipating coming back, and it was basically "we decided on a release date for this movie before we had a script, and now Trevorrow's out, JJ, have some money and come back to wrap this shit up."

Like remember when TFA released, and all the merchandise centered around Kylo Ren, rather than... y'know, Rey, Finn, and Poe, the ACTUAL heroes of the film? When people acknowledged that Disney seemed to be banking on the idea that people would respond to the edgelord villain, rather than the women and minority heroes? I can't imagine that they changed their tune afterwards, because that means admitting that THEY'RE the ones out of touch, so when they presented a list of demands for TROS's script, it followed that attitude, rather than responding to the way that the audience was leaning.

Like to make it clear, while my dislike of TLJ has put me off Rian Johnson entirely (I DEEPLY and will forever resent him bumping Finn into a "comedic" C-plot after he was the male lead of TFA), I don't think that JJ Abrams was the solution (though I will say that a single writer/director for the whole trilogy would have helped, be it Abrams OR Johnson). Rather the fault here was entirely on the backs of the executives, who wanted to put out an entire trilogy in the span of about four years, while changing up the writer/directors of each film, giving the trilogy no creative cohesion.

Genuinely, I believe that Abrams AND Johnson (who I'm including as much because I do this as anyone else whose criticisms of TLJ are beyond "women and people of color don't belong in my Star Wars, wah!") are probably just the convenient scapegoats for decisions made on the level of the Disney executives, not the act of writing or directing.

Y'know, when you have someone throwing around Disney levels of money giving you dictates for your script and story, honestly, you're probably not in the position of arguing too much - whatever wiggle room you get is balanced out by the fact that to Disney, you yourself are an utterly and completely replaceable cog in their machine.

I mean, end of the day, who REALLY had more power in that scenario, JJ Abrams or the damn mouse?

[redrascal1]

SW fans on the Cantina Forums are speculating that if, in the forthcoming Rey film, Finn will have any children with Rey?

I doubt it. TROS removed Rose (still mad about that) but introduced Jannah.

Daisy Ridley stated unequivocally that 'Rey didn't need a boyfriend.'

But, there again maybe they will. Personally I couldn't care less. I dislike both characters. I also lost respect for Boyega post his 'lay the pipe' comment.....curiously his female fans don't even seem to see how repugnant it was, the same fans that dissed reylo as 'toxic'.

Part of me is pissed that Boyega may get what HE wants after his revolting twitter behaviour....but there again, TROS turned Rey into someone I don't recognise.

So I've decided that Finn and his pipe are welcome to Rey Palpwalker. And their fans are welcome to SW post Kylo/Ben.

Hopefully they'll have deep pockets.

[mariacallous]

Yveneny Prigozhin’s wartime atrocities propelled the brutal mercenary into the limelight. But Prigozhin—who was once Russian president Vladimir Putin’s chef and a small-time criminal—also held a title as one of the world’s biggest disinformation peddlers. For years, Prigozhin operated the notorious Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that meddled in US elections and beyond.

When Prigozhin suddenly died in a mysterious plane crash on August 23, around two months after he led his Wagner Group mercenaries in a failed mutiny against Putin, the trolls didn’t stop posting. Instead, according to a new analysis shared with WIRED, some continued to show their support for him.

In the days immediately after his death, a coordinated network of pro-Prigozhin accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) pushed messages saying that the warlord was a hero and good for Russia, despite the Wagner Group’s failed rebellion against Putin in June. These messages also blamed the West for the plane crash and said that the Wagner Group would continue operating in Africa.

“It was not profitable for Putin to kill Prigozhin. PMC [private military company] carry a lot of weight in Africa, and Prigozhin skillfully managed it, despite his ‘character quirks,’” one account posted on X. “Prigozhin served for the good of Russia, remained faithful to his military oath, and was killed by saboteurs, or terrorists mined the plane,” another speculated. “In short, he just ditched his phone and disappeared into the sunset, just like in a typical action movie,” a third posted.

The organized accounts were all identified and shared with WIRED by Antibot4Navalny, an anonymous group of volunteers who track Russian-language influence operations on X. A person behind the group, whom WIRED granted anonymity due to safety concerns, says they started inspecting the posts of suspected X accounts after the crash when they “noticed that Prigozhin is surprisingly covered in an exclusively positive light.” The group found 30 accounts pushing pro-Prigozhin narratives, they say.

The activity could be a sign that Prigozhin remained in control of the Internet Research Agency troll factory until he died, the group claims, adding that it echoes similar activity they previously saw. Reports have said that after the attempted June uprising, Prigozhin-owned news websites and the troll factory were being shut down or looking for new owners. “Domestically, there was a lot of debate whether or not Prigozhin lost his control over the troll factory as one of the immediate aftermaths of the mutiny,” the Antibot4Navalny member says.

While the posts on X are only a tiny snapshot of social media activity, they highlight how Russian-linked propaganda has changed since the Internet Research Agency interfered in US politics in 2016, experts say. The Russian misinformation and disinformation industry has evolved into a rich ecosystem of state-backed media, massive Telegram channels, and more conventional social media posts. Millions of people follow so-called military bloggers and war journalists on Telegram—some of these channels are linked to the Russian state, while others are aligned with Pirgozhin and the Wagner Group. But all can muddy the waters or repeat set lines.

“Confusion in the information space is one of the aims of the Kremlin information operations—to make everything equally unbelievable so people’s trust in all kinds of sources is undermined,” says Eto Buziashvili, a disinformation and influence operations researcher with a focus on Russia at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. Since the start of its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has blocked and censored social media websites, banned independent news media, and pushed reams of disinformation.

Kyle Walter, head of research at misinformation and disinformation research company Logically, reviewed the posts shared by Antibot4Navalny and says they show “signs of being inauthentic.” The X accounts were largely created earlier this year, have low volumes of original posts, and mostly retweet or reply to accounts, and some of them also follow each other, Walter says. The themes the accounts posted about around the plane crash also match what Logically has seen from monitoring Telegram channels linked to the Wagner Group, he says. Walter adds, however, that linking them directly to the Internet Research Agency is harder to do.

The Antibot4Navalny researcher says that based on their previous research, they believe that the pro-Prigozhin trolls operate in similar ways. They “primarily serve” the interests of Putin, but they also push pro-Prigozhin narratives when it doesn’t “hurt” the Russian president, the researcher says. The approach “still worked in the plane-crash episode: Cover Putin as strongly as possible, but also, it is a nice opportunity to praise Prigozhin,” they say. The researcher says they are reporting the accounts to X.

As well as the posts around the plane crash, the Antibot4Navalny group also shared previous research and analysis with WIRED. In one instance, the group reported more than 7,000 suspected accounts to X. We tested dozens of these accounts and found that they have all been removed from the Elon Musk-owned social media company. Antibot4Navalny says the “troll” accounts are often active in groups, pushing the “same set of talking points” and mostly replying to tweets about news related to Russia and Ukraine or pro-Ukrainian channels. X did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

On July 14, the Antibot4Navalny researcher says, some of the accounts they have tracked replied to posts discussing comments from Putin, who said that the Wagner Group “does not exist” and that there is no legal basis for the group. The accounts, the researcher says, sent messages saying that Wagner operated legally and referenced Concord, the catering company owned by Prigozhin. The Antibot4Navalny researcher claims that the points were not included in any Kremlin-controlled media and that mentions of the company “served interests of the troll factory/its owner—rather than interests of the Kremlin.”

Buziashvili, the Atlantic Council researcher, says she believes the troll factory is still operating. “Part of them might be still supporting Prigozhin,” she says. “For most of the people who were working there, they would just continue their work regardless of who is their current boss.”

Following the plane crash, Buziashvili says, Russian officials and state media pushed multiple “theories” simultaneously. On one TV show, both the UK and NATO were blamed for the plane crash, she says. Other instances blame Ukraine and claim that Prigozhin was not killed in the crash. Pro-Wagner Telegram channels were also pushing claims that the plane was shot down by Russian aviation, Buziashvili says, and that they wanted “revenge.” Nobody has formally claimed responsibility for the explosion—both Putin and Ukraine have denied involvement.

Despite the changing information ecosystem, the amount of Russian disinformation on social media is colossal. During the first year after it launched the war in Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation reached an audience of “at least” 165 million and generated 16 billion views across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok, and Telegram, according to a European Commission study of Russia-linked activity published last week. Subscribers to pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have “more than tripled” since the start of the war, the report says. “Preliminary analysis suggests that the reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts has grown further in the first half of 2023, driven in particular by the dismantling of Twitter’s safety standards.”

“What we typically see these days is narratives formulated on Telegram,” says Logically’s Walter. The company has recently found pro-Russian channels pushing disinformation about Niger’s military coup, and it has also linked a Russian fact-checking website and Telegram account to a presenter on Russia’s “biggest” propaganda TV show. “You have Western influencers who are sympathetic to Russian causes that will translate those narratives and then share them on mainstream platforms. And they circulate more broadly,” he says.

Walter says that over time, and largely because of the war, it has become easier for Russian propaganda and disinformation to attack the West. “From a tactics perspective, there’s a lot less direct involvement that we can attribute from the Russian state itself, and it is more these proxies,” he says. “Russian disinformation efforts are gradually adapting to any sort of Western countering that gets put in place.”

[onewomancitadel]

I personally suffer from a combination of unfair but should've seen it coming syndrome (TROS) and wow I feel bad for you but you should've seen that coming (other fandoms I shan't name) and so I feel kind of like, um, trepidatious, let's say, about my own personal speculation. I think also if you study a text hard enough and you understand it tonally, short of countertextual twists and/or incoherent storytelling, you can eventually come to the conclusion of the story because stories need to be coherent.

There's plenty of stuff I've avoided investing in (and been right about) that gives me the tummy twist. I'm not saying people failing to do that are wrong in any way. Surprises and twists are the point and rewarding people for paying attention is just the icing on top. I'm just saying that I generally prefer trying to read something really close and equally I realise how fraught that can be, and that feeling of regret is not pleasant.

[ewa-jednak-chce-spac]

Okay. The latest Rings of Power teaser confirms that there will be a romantic subplot between Galadriel and Halbrand. At that time in Tolkien's Legendarium, Galadriel was happily married with Celeborn, so either the showrunners don't respect the source material at all or they will come up with the explanation that Celeborn has gone missing and is thought to be dead (which still would not be a good idea due to elves mating for life).

The said teaser is here.

Additional thing are the leaks that Halbrand is an undercover villain - according to some of them he may be even Sauron himself (I've also read speculations that he may be the Witch-king instead). If we'll add it to his romance with Galadriel, things become even worse. Iirc in the source material Galadriel was the least trustful of elves, when it comes to Sauron in his Annatar disguise, so she shouldn't be led astray so easily. Besides, it looks like as if the showrunners decided to make out of Galadriel Rey Skywalker 2.0 (which after TROS is one of the worst possible ideas for this character) and give her - among other stuff - a villain/heroine romance too, ignoring the fact that it's a very bad idea, when it comes to this character in that period in Tolkien's Legendarium.

I'm a villain/heroine shipper and I wish to see more of such dynamic in the mainstream media, but probably the only way I may possibly enjoy this potential subplot is reimagining these characters as randoms from series completely unrelated to Tolkien (and only if I won't mind all other stuff, which is unlikely).

[hegodamask]

Is it true that Darth Vader without the suit would’ve destroyed Palpatine but Palpatine would have transferred his essence into no suit Vader in canon? I’ve heard people say that would’ve happened or something

I think it's just people speculating. George Lucas once said Anakin had the potential to be twice as powerful as Palpatine if Mustafar hadn't happened. There's also that hilarious (to me) alternate ending from the ROTS video game where he just...stabs Palpatine.

The essence transfer thing I'm not sure about. There's the whole "trying to create a dyad" thing from the TROS novelisation. But idk. Hard to say when it actually hasn't happened in canon!

[skiplo-wave]

If I was you, I would keep a close eye on Ahsoka.

TAKE THIS AS A GRAIN OF SALT.

So, a certain user on this hell hole site that I like to call Fly. Because it seems like this person is a fly on the wall or knows someone that gets very good information. You might know who I am talking about when I say this person was a damn good writer and artist. Fly got ran off by antis right before TLJ. There was leaked info about TLJ this person gave that turned out to be true. It was all backed up when another user got the privilege to see TLJ early and they compared. They came back briefly under a new name in 2019 just to correct the TROS leaks and they confirmed that there was Reylo scenes in it. They was also positive there was a different ending filmed. But I guess we may never know.

Why I bring this up?

This morning in a discord, a person who is supposedly friends with Fly said there is going to be a sequel "Reylo series" announcement in 2023 that might intertwine with the Ahsoka series. According to them, we are getting a Rey series with a few of the sequel cast. Daisy, Adam, Billy, Naomi and possibly Keri. They seem to think that we will mostly see Rey and Jannah going on a adventure to get Ben back. If this is true, what worries me is they are pretty sure Mark, Billie, Kelly and John are not going to be in it but Rose and Finn will guaranteed to be mentioned. I don't mind having a full on Reylo series and getting to know Jannah more. I think it's a pity they didn't introduce her sooner. But story wise, I mean if they are going to correct what they did in the sequel, they need to give the other characters justice too. Especially Rose and Finn.

They didn't mention Oscar at all.

Meh

I don't have interest in star wars anymore so don't care about he say she said speculations. I highly doubt any of cast want to return back sw projects

[kalinara]

So I’ve FINALLY broken down and got Disney +, and have finally caught myself up on the Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett.

It’s fun being a Johnny Come Lately, because I know everyone’s already talked about everything and I can lurk unnoticed in my little corner of speculation and opinion.

One thing I’m realizing is that I really love Luke’s role in Book of Boba Fett.  That seems like an unpopular opinion, but I look at it the same way I see Luke’s role at the beginning of the Last Jedi: he’s at the start of his growth arc.

It bugs me to no end when critics of the Rise of Skywalker claim Luke’s characterization in that movie contradict his characterization in the Last Jedi.  It doesn’t!  The problem is that the examples that people use to illustrate the contradiction are from the BEGINNING of the Last Jedi, when Luke is wounded and bitter and lost in his despair.  That’s not where the movie ENDS.  At the END of the movie, Luke is fucking triumphant.  When he fades away, it’s not in defeat but in victory.  And his Order survives!  And THAT’s the man we see in Rise of Skywalker.

TROS had a lot of problems as a movie, as did TLJ, but I genuinely do believe they did a good job with Luke.  It’s not his Legends arc, and I can absolutely understand why many prefer that arc instead.  In some ways, I do too.  But it’s still a good arc in its own right.

Anyway, I was pretty mad at Luke and Ahsoka in Book of Boba Fett.  I mean, how can you not be?  LOOK at Din Djarin standing there, in the middle of the worst day of his fucking life, and his heartbroken little “but I came all this way”.  Of COURSE I’m mad at them.  Let the man see his fucking baby!

And coming from LUKE SKYWALKER.  The man whose attachment TO HIS FATHER saved the fucking galaxy!

But if we look at it as the beginning of an arc, it makes sense.  Luke is still VERY new at all of this.  He’s had, what, three days of training with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and maybe a few more days/weeks hanging out in a swamp, and that’s it.  The texts are few and far between (look at how desperately he clings to those in TLJ, and Yoda can fucking bite me for his glee there).  His primary sources for the old Jedi way of life are three severely traumatized old men, one known for creative mistruth, one known for ultimate trolling, and one who spent twenty years as a Sith.

He’s met Ahsoka, who has a bitter teenage apostate’s understanding of the Old Order.

So he’s over-compensating.

We KNOW he gets over it.  The Sequel Trilogy and its supplemental materials make it clear, for example, that Kylo had a lot of contact with his parents.  And it could be as simple as Leia listening to Luke prattle about non-attachments and telling him to fuck himself with his lightsaber, but I like to think there’s more to it.

There’s a beat that really stood out to me in Book of Boba Fett and that’s when Din Djarin, after hearing the Armorer’s explanation of Jedi non-attachment bursts out with “but that’s the opposite of what we do!”

And it stuck in my head because in a lot of ways, Din’s covert is a mirror image, parallel but in reverse, of the pre-Empire Jedi Order.

1.  They’re both pseudo-religious orders that exist in isolation. (The Jedi though, are in a position of respect and power, while the covert hides in the sewers.)

2.  They both survive through the recruitment and training of foundlings.  (The covert seems to skew a little older in its recruits than the Order did, and clearly anger/trauma is a selling point rather than a turn off.)

3.  Both have complex rituals involving martial items.  (Armor as opposed to weapons, for the covert, but still interesting.  Especially their near revulsion to Din’s beskar spear.  That’s for ARMOR.)

4.  Both practice a sort of non-attachment/non-engagement.  (The covert is physical rather than emotional.  But still.  Also tangentially, while I absolutely believe that the Mandalorians are more than capable of finding workarounds that let them have sex in the helmets, I 100% believe Din Djarin has never done any of them.)

That last bit though is the important one.  Because there’s nothing wrong with religious orders that encourages folk to make sacrifices like chastity, celibacy, wearing veils, et cetera. But there IS a point where the ideal behind these sacrifices are taken to an extreme that becomes harmful.

I don’t blame the Jedi Order for Anakin’s fall, and I don’t think they deserved to be wiped out.  It’s clear, to me, that Anakin’s flaw was in his obsession and his rage, and his inability to realize he can step back and choose something else.

But I DO think the Jedi MAYBE could have figured out the basic ideas that a kid whose mother was left in slavery might still be frantically afraid for her.  And deal appropriately.  I feel like the Jedi, while empathetic people by nature, were so molded by their particular upbringing that it led them to have a lot of difficulty understanding other mindsets.

On the covert’s side, well, exhibit A: Din Djarin on Morak.  He took off the helmet, which is a crushing sacrifice to begin with, but he’s so utterly terrified that he can barely function.  This is a man who walks around having PTSD flashbacks in his own family forge and cauterizing his wounds at a campfire and no one has any idea, because they can’t see behind the faceless mask.

And dubious purification rituals aside (I’m holding out hope for a nude scene that I’m sure won’t happen because it’s Disney), there is no exception to the ostracism.  They never ask how he unmasked, or why.  It’s enough to know he did.

So anyway, I don’t think it’s an accident that we get Din’s rejection from the covert at the same time that we see Grogu forced to make an unfair choice.  It might just be “let’s watch Din Djarin suffer a very bad day”, but I think it’s intentional.

Luke and Din have parallel journeys here.  What does it mean to be a Jedi?  What does it mean to be a Mandalorian?  And then, for Grogu, what does it mean to be both?  Because chainmail shirts still leave your arms free to wield a lightsaber.

[akunose]

Looking at Disney's Star Wars Sequel Trilogy after such a long time feels bizarre.

I remember feeling so utterly insulted at the opening line of The Force Awakens. The whole "shitty prequels" push in the media. Like TFA is such a product of a 10 years long popularised over-critical outlook and all the garbage that made George Lucas sell to Disney in the first place. I mean I understand if you don't like the prequels, it's not like they are Citizen Kane. But neither was the OT...

Overall I enjoyed TFA despite JJ and Simon Pegg whose Prequel Bashing is hilarious since he's in the worst ST movie ever. Oh, he didn't like having that pointed out lmao.

Anyway, I remember feeling excited to see where the story would go now they got their nostalgia hook out of the way. The Knights of Ren were an interesting concept, the Snoke speculation was fun, BB-8 was cute, Poe was hot, Finn had a great character setup and Rey felt intriguing. And then Disney went the opposite extreme with The Last Jedi.

"Let the past die, kill it if you have to."

Or whatever the quote was, I haven't seen TFA nor TLJ since they were released to be honest, because why would I?

Like seriously, in the most generation and nostalgia driven franchise?? You want to erase the past? And so on the nose? Oh boy... TLJ is such a pretty looking movie but it felt so, so empty... It's the first movie I ever wanted to walk out off, it felt so damn long, as a woman I felt appalled by the female characters' writing and worst of all it killed my love for Star Wars for years.

Clone Wars returning? Didn't care. Mandalorian? Didn't care also Taika directing immediate pass but that's a separate issue. Bad Batch? Didn't care. Boba getting a show? Didn't care.

And The Rise of Skywalker? Still haven't watched and will never watch it.

It was so weird. First I got attacked for liking the Prequels, then you got attacked for not liking Disney's Grand Vision. And what a vision it was when they apparently couldn't even stick to it. Who would have thought you shouldn't play round robin with Star Wars?

What annoyed me most was the argument to "go watch the movie again! You will like it then! I did after watching it for the nth time!" Why would I ever spend money on something again I disliked immensely?

Do I need to go anywhere near what happened to the characters? YMMV but Poe bad needs to be taught dumb lessons by women with superiority complex, Finn and Rose comedy side quest, Rey the Mary Sue. I'm not even gonna touch what circus the First Order and Kylo became. Let alone what happened to Luke Skywalker...

I barely even remember the release of TROS. Like I saw what I thought were memes and then it turned out to be actual lines. I remember the Rey Skywalker thing coming out pretty early, and thinking what bullshit is this. Anecdotal but when I talked with my co-workers at the time and even they disliked it so much despite always defending the Sequels, it was odd.

But weirdest of all was the Prequels starting to get love. I get that my generation is like all over social media now but even those who don't like the films are kinda mellowed towards them? People started missing George for fucks sake after all the BS he got. It's so, so ironic.

Now Disney Wars is the Big Bad and on one hand its sad to see the repeat of the Prequel Bashing x100 with the Sequel Trilogy thanks to SM monetization but on the other hand my generation is finally getting our due. They gave us Hayden Christensen back proper that tells you all you need...

[childrenweb]

He was on our screens during the Coronation (remember the rumours...?). Now Karl Jenkins is back in the news, with a different feat to his name

Recently (and memorably) on our TV screens during the Coronation, the composer Sir Karl Jenkins is back in the news, having broken a unique chart record.

Jenkins broke UK chart records by reaching over 1,000 weeks in the UK Official Classical Artist Albums Chart with his work The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.

The Armed Man was composed by Jenkins in 1999, commissioned by the Royal Armouries to mark the millennium. An oratorio, it is based on the 15th century French poem, ‘L’homme armé’, and is a powerful and moving reflection on the horror of war and its consequences. It has now occupied the UK classical charts for more than 20 years.

Jenkins captured the attention of the public with his appearance at the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey. Indeed, his appearance at the event led to some speculation that Karl Jenkins was Meghan Markle in disguise (Prince Harry's wife having not attended the Coronation) and his image went viral.

The Welsh composer was amused by the extraordinary media response to his distinctive look, when it was jokingly suggested that he might have been a heavily disguised Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

He was at the Coronation because his work 'Tros y Garreg' ('Over the Stone', an arrangement of a Welsh folk song drawn from his eponymous harp concerto) was performed as part of the music programme before the Coronation service, withRoyal Harpist Alis Huws as soloist.

Who performed at the Coronation?

Who composed music for King Charles's Coronation?

The work was commissioned by His Majesty when Prince of Wales, and was included in the Coronation order of service as a recognition of The King’s long-standing relationship and affiliation with Wales. Indeed, the big day also saw the first-ever Welsh-language performance at a Coronation, with Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel performing Paul Mealor's 'Coronation Kyrie' in his mother tongue.

Five of the best...Welsh composers

Seven traditional Welsh folk songs you can't help singing along to

'Tros y Garreg' is now available to listen to on The Official Coronation Album, which was recorded live and released on the same day as the Coronation, and is out now on Decca Records.

The Coronation in numbers: how many musicians, composers, microphones and more

https://www.classical-music.com/news/coronation-composer-karl-jenkins-breaks-uk-chart-record/

[reylo-ruffles]

I've seen it and I have hope.

Why wouldn't Ben be a force ghost? They mention the force transference thing a few times. Surely that's not just so Palpatine can be resurrected fully. Ben disappeared at the same time as Leia who already knew her Jedi path would end when her son died. She had already died before him but her body didn't disappear until he died then it happened simultaneously. So she was already dead but she had one last thing to do for him.

Force transference.

I believe in that moment she saved him. He's stuck somewhere to heal but he can be resurrected.

When she disappears Maz Kanata is stood right there and smiles. Maz is the one in TFA who mentions about Ben being brought back.

Leia somehow protected him with her last Jedi act. Rey is the one who can bring him back fully.

[raw-untamed]

You’ll turn. I’ll help you. 

I saw something too. I know that when the time comes, you’ll be the one to turn.