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Disney’sStar Warssequel trilogy is often credited for its original trilogy esthetic , but it study far more thematically from the prequels . It ’s no mystery that , ever sinceDisney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 , theStar Warsfandom has been wildly divided . Whether its the nostalgia - heavyThe Force Awakensor the radical new direction ofThe Last Jedi , this era of the " galaxy far , far aside " has been marked by logical controversy at every good turn .
Part of this bifurcation among lover of George Lucas ’s creation is for certain due to the wild over - corrections that Lucasfilm has been making to date . The preceding four pic have slew from bug into conversant level complex body part and fan - favored characters ( The Force Awakens , Solo ) to explore untapped corners and new possibilities ( Rogue One , The Last Jedi ) .
Related:Star Wars Fandom Has Finally Got Over The Prequels - Thanks To Disney
Star Warsfandom is no stranger to deliberate , and one of the heavy single correctly out the gate with the sequel trilogy was the perception that it was actually ignoring the prequels for the saki of original trilogy nostalgia , and while it ’s true that , to an extent , the sequelslookmore like the original trilogy , thematically they hark back to the more complicated story of the prequels .
The Original Trilogy’s Politics and Morality Was Black and White
WhenStar Warsfirst arrived in theaters back in 1977 , Lucas draw aspiration from the adventure serial he had enjoyed as a spring chicken , like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers . These taradiddle centered on a clearly - geld partitioning between good and evil , and it was the universal conflict between the two that the original trilogy aims to communicate . The heroes , by and large , wear white and/or bright colors , while the scoundrel is a part - military man , part - car creature in a terrifying blackened suit of clothes . Even the lightsabers are colour - coordinate .
Those first three films clearly pit the towering Galactic Empire against a group of scrappy but thoroughgoing - hearted rebels , fighting for truth and jurist . In the wake of the morally complex Vietnam War , it ’s no wonderment that theStar Warstrilogy and its clear definition of right field and wrong fall a chord with audiences . The film became a " new hope " that the time to come ahead might be a brighter one , one in which the villains and hero are easy distinguishable , and ultimately , secure always triumphs .
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The Prequels Subverted What Audiences Thought About Their Heroes
Then came the prequels . Suddenly , the badass Jedi - turn - Sith Darth Vader was a peppy fiddling podracer prodigy , and the wisdom and power of the Jedi was finally give away to be get stuck by hauteur . Blinded by the sullen side and their own pride , the Jedi Council — epitomized by Yoda himself — consistently fail to make the right decision , fail to see that the Dark Lord of the Sith was right under their nose the whole tie , allowing Chancellor Palpatine exact more and more power and ascend to the role of Emperor .
Even Obi - Wan Kenobi is first presented as a overblown padawan prentice who does n’t develop into the hero we fuck until well intoRevenge of the Sith . The entire foundation of righteousness that Obi - Wan and Yoda represent in the original trilogy is recontextualized by the prequels , which aim to molt new light on the grapheme and research the the true that led the Republic to its doom and the Jedi to near - extinguishing at the hands of the choose One .
Page 2 of 2:How the New Films Move the Story Forward
The Disney Movies Are About Processing and Moving on From the Failures of the Prequel Trilogy
As you might imagine , that ’s exactly what the new films , especiallyThe Last Jedi , are comment on . Luke himself even points out how the " lip service " and " hubris " of the Jedi played an integral part in create the Empire , and for this reason , he is convinced that the only way for the wandflower ( i.e. , theStar Warssaga itself ) to hold out is for the Jedi to be removed from the equation entirely . Meanwhile , his nephew — the main scoundrel of this trilogy — worships his grandfather ’s colored title , go for to furbish up his immenseness unto the galaxy . In a kind of meta - comment , Kylo Ren could defend the fans who are long for the original trilogy , lack the full context of how Anakin became Vader or why Luke won by throwing his lightsaber , not fall upon Vader down .
Yoda even reach forth from the beyond to profess to Luke that"the swell teacher , bankruptcy is . “His entire appearing inThe Last Jediis predicated on a need to let go of the Jedi ’s past mistakes , drawing a legato parallel between his failure to block Darth Sidious from claiming ascendance of the extragalactic nebula and Luke ’s nonstarter to recreate the Jedi Order in his own image . Although it remain to be seen howEpisode IXwill wrap up this thematic throughline , it does n’t take much scrutiny to reveal the meta - comment that the sequel trilogy is go for .
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Reconciling the Past Trilogies So that the Saga Can Live On
While the DisneyStar Warsfilms ultimately condemn not the prequel trilogy itself but the action of its hoagie , they certainly do n’t shy away from referencing and integrate sure elements into the stories they ’re trying to tell . Take thatSolovillain cameo , for example . In fact , every undivided one of the four photographic film that Disney has released since taking ownership has included cite , cameo and narration tie to the prequels . You could even say that one of the big objective lens of the subsequence trilogy is the unification of all that has come before , every bit legitimizing both trilogy while allowing fans to accept them all and move on .
InThe Force Awakens , Maz Kanata discusses the never - finish engagement against iniquity in its many forms , name - checking the Sith , the Empire , and the First Order as various personification of the same struggle . Then , of course , there is the philosophical debate between Kylo"Let the past die"Ren and Rey ’s desire to salve what remain of the Jedi , even if all she ultimately save is the Order ’s sacred schoolbook . These two primal mainstay of the sequel trilogy find themselves in a philosophical quarrel over how to treat the future of theStar Warsgalaxy , and no pic captures that conversation as much asThe Last Jedi .
In that respect , Rian Johnson ’s film — and the vitriolic response some fans have had to it — embodies a transitional period for the saga . By bringing back the musical theme of the prequels and the casting of the original trilogy , the Disney films are tying the whole saga together once and for all . After all , what come next in the main saga , spinoffs aside , will likely not be beholden to either the original trilogy or the prequels . And it should n’t have to . TheStar Warsuniverse is a Brobdingnagian one with infinite storytelling potential . AsJ.J. Abrams once explained , the purpose of the sequel trilogy is to " domesticize the history , " and that delegation is well on its way to being fulfil .
Next:Star Wars: The Last Jedi Completes The Prequels' Story
