~spoilers are mentioned in this article, reader discretion is advised~ 

Once the news came out of the final chapter of the sequel trilogy, fans from across the galaxy were excited to fill in the theatre seats. Tickets were sold weeks in advance, some going as far as dressing up opening week. Tears, anger, and boos were left at the end of the movie, some walking way unsatisfied. Although the movie has good points, what the movie lacks is how it’ll be remembered. There was so much left to be desired leaving with so many questions. 

The legacy of Anakin Skywalker was never followed through, although he was the “chosen one,” he had no part in any of it. There wasn’t even a need for a sequel trilogy, the movies ended on a good note however, Disney had to keep this story going. They discarded the fact that he was the chosen one, Palpatine came back after balance was brought by Anakin, Rey was a scavenger, a nobody who had the force within her, knowing that nobody could have this power and be trained was inspirational. People related to this but once she became a Palpatine it defied this purpose.

Important characters were pushed aside like Rose Tico, she was given so much screen time in The Last Jedi, it started the build of a new character. Dropping everything Rose accomplished felt undone, to say the least. Rose was an established character with a major role and a romanticly important role with Finn. Even if I wasn’t a huge fan of Rose, I knew she was a key factor in the second trilogy, she should’ve been with Finn, Poe, and Rey when they went out to find the Sith Wayfinder. Even if Rose was just holding down the fort, fixing the ship while the camera paves to something else maybe, seeing her at home base communicating with them when they went to find the Sith Wayfinder, helping in some kind of way. Anything is better than throwing her character away. 

Not only did The Rise of Skywalker toss aside characters but they introduced new characters for no reason. We could’ve gone the entire movie without hearing about Poe’s somewhat romantic interest Zorii Bliss. Both Zorii and Jannah (Finns new found friend) had better lines, were more interesting, and had better lines than Rose. Yet we can infer that IF there is another movie both characters won’t have much screen time just like Rose. Ultimately the audience is left wondering why to introduce new characters if the makers won’t follow their character arcs or stories. 

Finn never tells Rey what he wants to tell her. When they’re sinking into the quick-sand calls out to ray saying “ REY, I never told you…” then decides to take a deep breath whole he sinks into the sand. Throughout the whole movie, Finn tries and fails to tell ray. it gets to the point where Poe starts pushing and nagging him to tell ray, what more does Finn want people are pushing him to confess. The question here is What was he supposed to tell ray? Did Finn struggle to get Rey’s attention and find the right time and place to tell he was in love with her or is it that he’s discovered that he’s force sensitive and just doesn’t know how to tell her? Now fans are left questioning what the answer is, that was the screenwriter’s goal, I suppose. 

The most devastating scene to come from this movie came when Ben Solo was killed. After Ben forced healed Rey he transferred all of his life force into her ultimately killing himself. The sniffles in the theater couldn’t suppress the surprise from the audience. Many assumed with the title being the rise of skywalker that Ben would live as he is the last Skywalker. But later on, we come to find out that Rey is “reborn” as a new Skywalker. The death of Solo left many fans enraged how they could just simply kill off the Skywalker lineage and put all the focus onto Rey. An example being when Rey was fighting Palpatine and all the voices of Jedi past came to talk to her while Ben sat in a pit. 

Now a note from our editor on why he disliked the Rise of Skywalker:

The Rise of Skywalker left much to be desired. It felt like the primary reason for it being liked more than The Last Jedi (Rotten Tomatoes score of 86% to 43%) was because the latter went above and beyond subverting expectations that it alienated a significant portion of the fan base aka “The Fandom Menace.” The Rise of Skywalker did not have this type of problem because it adhered more to the Star Wars universe lore from the past films. The problem lies more in the plot holes, and the direction the story took content-wise. (Spoiler Warnings ahead) First and foremost, what was the point of the sequel trilogy to begin with? Why does the story need to continue? What was the ultimate purpose? If the primary reason is that the Emperor survived there should have been an appearance or reemergence of Anakin Skywalker’s character to maintain continuity of the “Chosen One” narrative. In addition, how did Maz Kanata obtain Luke’s blue lightsaber in Episode VII and why did it call out to Rey Palpatine of all people? If the force can heal humans and aliens from death, where was this power before? Does only Rey and Kylo possess this power, if so why? The power is apparently utilized unevenly considering the ultimate divergent fates of Rey and Ben. Since Palpatine’s survival from being thrown into the Death Star reactor shaft in Return of the Jedi was so hastily and vaguely explained, who is to say why he can’t survive his fate in TROS?

Another point of contention for me is such a cool and intriguing concept like Dark Rey was used as a marketing ploy to get people to watch the film, rather than be used in the actual story plot as a real character development device. But my biggest grievance with TROS is the fact that an actual Skywalker never rose! The character to “Rise” was none other than the descendant of the ultimate evil whose voice can be heard in Revenge of the Sith saying to the newly anointed Darth Vader “Rise!” The Rise of Skywalker collectively suffers from a conflict of purpose, why were these characters struggling, how were they going to be developed, and how were all 9 films supposed to tie together into one cohesive epic space mythology that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? I believe the lesson the Disney sequel trilogy taught everyone is that in the age of social media and the fandom menace that pervades it, laymen opinion has a greater impact on storytelling than established professional writers do in telling them.