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RvBOMally — Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Published: 2017-06-13 01:46:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 24086; Favourites: 193; Downloads: 179
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This is my rewrite for The Force Awakens. I thought it was an okay movie, but it played it too safe and thus became Star Wars: A Newer Hope. My rewrite isn't a total overhaul like my prequel series, as it keeps much of the original film. It also keeps a bit of pottery, but hopefully they are more thematic and appropriate than what we got. I may edit this more in the future, as I recall more things I would have wanted to change with TFA.
The biggest change is in the backstory, in that this incarnation of TFA actually has one. It isn't the main focus, obviously, but it is explored in the opening scroll. This backstory is inspired by then-current events, much Kim the original trilogy. The Rebellion's victory isn't total, and that is made clear in the opening scroll: half of the galaxy is still under Imperial control, and while the Empire is not the juggernaut it was thirty years ago, it's still a great power.[1] There is a tenuous peace, enforced by the construction of new Death Stars (or "Peace Stars," as the Republic calls them). The galaxy in chaos. The Hutts have taken control of large sectors[2], and both sides are using proxies to try and destroy one another. The Second Republic's biggest problem is ongoing terrorism from the First Order. The First Order in this incarnation isn't a shiny new Empire, it's the opposite. It's space ISIS. It uses old OT-era equipment, as opposed to the shiny new designs used by the Republic and Empire. It uses terrorist tactics, like suicide bombings, kidnappings, beheadings, the works.[3] it. Like ISIS, they have control of territory:
much of the Unknown Regions. The Empire backs the First Order clandestinely, supplying it with arms and money. The First Order even has control of some superlasers, which it claims to have built, but the Republic suspects that they were given to the First Order by the Empire. However, they haven't used them yet.
And of course, there's motivation. I find the canon First Order's motives...wanting. "Make the Empire Great Again" is really simplistic, and I want to make the First Order more compelling, like better interpretations of prequel-era Palpatine. Made up of ex-Imperial personnel loyal specifically to Palpatine and his Sith teachings, the First Order didn't get caught up in the crab pot games the rest of the Empire did after Endor. The First Order is Palpatine's Plan B, his grand scheme to bring the Sith back into power should he and Vader be killed simultaneously. While the Empire proper has lost its way and is now just an authoritarian military dictatorship[4], just as Palpatine has foreseen, the First Order is motivated by Sith ideology. This ideology is one of ruthless social Darwinism, believing that the galaxy belongs to those who command the Force (the Sith) and not those who allow the Force to command them (the Jedi). The Jedi and the Republic are wrong for their egalitarian beliefs; equality is a lie, nothing in nature is equal, it is only the powerful who deserve to survive and thrive. The galaxy must be commanded with the Force, and by force. The current state of affairs is unacceptable, not just because it is disorderly, but because it allows the weak to survive and even thrive. Even the Empire has lost its way, becoming corrupted and weak. They must all be swept aside.[5]
What about the Resistance? At first, I was going to remove them, because they seemed unnecessary. Why have the Resistance fighting, when the Republic can do it instead? But I have decided to keep them to put a bit of conflict among the good guys. The Republic, like the Old Republic, is already suffering from political division,[6] particularly on the question of the Empire. Some want peace, others, like Senator Organa, are extremely hawkish.[7] The Resistance here are basically the Republic's answer to the First Order: terrorists fighting to destroy the Empire, because the Republic cannot do so directly. The Resistance here isn't the Rebellion 2.0; they are much grayer, acting much like the Rebels in Rogue One. They are willing to fight the Empire and the First Order at any cost, but their motives are to bring peace to the galaxy by uniting it under the Republic.
The film begins at Jakku, as the First Order is taking the planet and the Resistance are left behind to fight them. The Resistance troops, led by Poe Dameron, are told by Senator Organa herself that Jakku cannot fall to the First Order under any circumstances. However, the Resistance lose. Kylo Ren shows up, does some badass Sith stuff, and forces the Resistance to retreat. Poe manages to escape, and he receives a super secret mission: find this girl named Rey and take her off Jakku and back to D'Qar, the closest Resistance base. He wonders who this is, and why she's so important, but he gets no answers except for a brief hologram and a tip that she's probably at some scummy town. Meanwhile, we cut to the village, where Kylo Ren does some ISIS-style beheadings at a village and waxes philosophical about pseudo-Nietzschean Sith stuff, and then orders the stormtroopers to gun down the rest. A stormtrooper, Finn, doesn't participate. He gets some death threats from Kylo Ren, but ultimately nothing happens. Kylo Ren then receives information from his superior, Supreme Commander Snoke, who gives him a "new mission." Kylo Ren reports that he felt a "familiar presence" on Jakku, and Supreme Leader Snoke says that is very interesting.
Poe eventually finds Rey, who was repairing BB-8[8], and tells her they have to leave the planet. Of course, Rey objects, and they argue. The argument ends when they run into some stormtroopers, the stormtroopers recognize Poe, and they get arrested. However, while in custody, they are released by one of the stormtroopers, who we later learn is Finn. Finn reveals that he's been thinking of defecting for a long time, having been conscripted as a child, and that since Poe is Resistance he took this chance. The trio have to find someone to smuggle them off-world, and who do they find but none other than Han and Chewie![9] He agrees to get them off-world gratis[10], after hearing that Poe is Resistance, and they manage to make it off-world.
Cut to Starkiller Base, the newest battlestation of the Republic. Yes, the Republic built Starkiller Base in this iteration, as they have the resources for it. Starkiller Base is the brainchild of some Republic politicians who believe that superweapons can bring an end to the Empire once and for all. Senator Organa is visiting this new battlestation, and she is skeptical of how effective it would be, since the Empire couldn't win its war with the Death Stars. The politicians in support of Starkiller Base retort that the base doesn't destroy planets, but entire star systems by inducing supernovas, and can do so through hyperspace. The base can essentially decapitate the Empire in one swoop. Leia, whose home planet was destroyed similarly, objects to the morality of this, and warns that this technology could be used against the Republic. We also learn that the station is still incomplete.
We cut to D'Qar, where our protagonists are talking to the Resistance leaders. They decide that Poe should go back on duty, Rey should be sent to Naboo at the request of Senator Organa, and they have no idea what to do with Finn. Before this could be finalized, the First Order attacks D'Qar, being led there by a transponder on Finn's stormtrooper armor. There's a big battle, and our protagonists are forced to retreat again. Han takes them to Maz Kanata, who Han says has gotten him out of trouble before. Finn asks why they can't go to the Republic, and Poe answers that they can't do that because their hyperdrive shows they came from D'Qar, which would make the Republic-Resistance connection clear, and the Empire could use that to declare war on the Republic. They get to Maz Kanata, who gives Rey Luke's old lightsaber as in the canon film, and she gets her visions. They discuss the events of the OT, and notably Han is evasive when it comes to the topic of Luke, even though he readily admits things did not work out with Leia. When prodded on the question of what happened to Luke Skywalker, Han says he doesn't want to talk about it. They also work out a plan to smuggle Rey, Finn and Poe to Naboo on a new ship, cleaning any ties they have with the D'Qar system. It turns out this "new" ship is an old one: the Millennium Falcon.
Cut to Starkiller Base, which has now been completed and is ready for use. Of course, it is suddenly attacked by the First Order. A massive battle occurs between Republic and First Order troops, Kylo Ren leading the charge. The Republic is defeated, and Kylo Ren captures the base in the name of the First Order. He comes into contact with Supreme Leader Snoke, who we now see clearly for the first time is Luke Skywalker. Kylo Ren has a very pathetic talk with Luke, basically asking if Luke is proud of him now. Luke is dismissive and treats Kylo like a street animal, calling his work of taking Starkiller Base "sloppy" and that he has "yet to master the Dark Side." He also mentions how he's a disappointing nephew and a disappointing apprentice. Luke gives Kylo a new mission; Kylo asks if it's to complete the battlestation by getting more crystals, and Luke says no: his mission is to find Rey. Kylo asks who Rey is, and he's effectively told that's above his pay grade. Kylo grovels and says he will do Luke and his grandfather, Darth Vader, proud. We then cut to Kylo talking to Darth Vader's old mask, saying that he can "still feel the tug of the light," and asking him to be the best edgelord he can be.
Cut to Naboo, where our protagonists have just landed, and they are told the bad news: Starkiller Base has fallen to the First Order. The Senate is up in arms, particularly because the project was kept secret from a good number of them. Han brings Rey to Leia. Meeting for the first time in years, and there's some tension between Han and Leia, but they get over it because of the crisis. Poe and Finn volunteer to lead an attack against the captured base, and Rey asks to join, but Leia objects. It's at this point that Leia tells Rey that she's the daughter of Luke Skywalker, and she was abandoned on Jakku after Luke[11] turned to the Dark Side and destroyed the Jedi Order. Therefore, Luke would want her as an apprentice, and she cannot fall into the First Order's hands. Cut to Starkiller Base, where Luke is addressing the First Order, waxing philosophical about Sith stuff, and saying that with Starkiller Base they can destroy the Republic and the Empire. The first target is Naboo. The Republic finds out about this[12] and orders an immediate evacuation. Leia ends up with most of the Senate, believing Rey has joined her, but nope! Rey has run off with the rest of the protagonists to attack Starkiller Base before it can destroy the Naboo system.
The battle of Starkiller Base begins. The Republic informed our protagonists that the base has a heat sink problem, much like the Death Stars, and that if that can be destroyed, the whole system can be set to blow. However, the shields have to be disabled from the surface. While Poe is fighting in space, the rest of our protagonists land on the surface. Much of the battle proceeds as in canon, including Kylo Ren killing Han to prove his edginess[13]. However, a key difference here is that Starkiller Base does not blow up. The protagonists succeed in destroying the cooling systems, but upon learning of this, the First Order simply powers down the hyperlight weapon.[14] More First Order reinforcements jump out of hyperspace shortly afterward, forcing the Republic to retreat. We also have the fight between Finn and Rey and Kylo Ren. Finn loses pretty quickly, getting injured by Kylo Ren, but Rey doesn't perform as well as she does in canon. Rey is losing to Kylo Ren, constantly on the defensive, until Rey gets more memories from the saber. These memories are Anakin's, from when he was executing Order 66 and killing Count Dooku. Tapping into the rage from this, Rey hacks and slashes away at Kylo, who is forced onto the defensive. He is injured, pinned down, and Rey is about to deliver the killing blow, but then Poe shows up and tells them they have to leave, because First Order reinforcements are coming.[15] Rey, Poe, Finn and Chewie leave Starkiller base with the rest of the Republic forces.
Cut to Naboo, which has been saved, but just barely. Our protagonists are awarded for their role in the victory, and there's a memorial service for Han Solo. But it's clear that the war has just begun, and the First Order remains a threat. The Senate is now discussing more direct action against the First Order. Cut to Starkiller Base, where Kylo Ren is looking dejected because he just got beat in a fight by a girl and got chewed out by Luke Skywalker. Cut to Rey looking at that old lightsaber, and we can tell she's asking what more it can teach her. Cut to credits.
[1] Yes, the new Empire is the Russian Federation to the OT Empire's Soviet Union. It's ruled by a Council of Moffs, the imperial throne left unclaimed because nobody could agree on who should succeed Sheev.
[2] They show up in Episode IX as part of a coalition to take down the First Order, but they are only mentioned in passing otherwise
[3] It's meant to be a dark mirror to the Rebellion, and a reflection of modern fears and concerns. Much like how the Empire was the USSR in space (sorta), we need to update our villains to make them contemporary.
[4] Also extremely corrupt and with ties to Hutt gangsters; when the Imperials show up in Episode VIII, it's clear their leaders are in it for the money.
[5] Apologies to @YeahOkayCool , as I was inspired by his Plagueis survives timeline . I recommend reading it!
[6] None of this is in the movie save for being mentioned in passing. Nobody wants to hear about trade disputes.
[7] I thought having her as a general was a bit stupid, but having her in a political role supporting the Resistance by makes sense. Like a space John McCain.
[8] Here, BB-8 is her droid, not Poe's.
[9] Yeah, this is a contrived coincidence for the sake of fanservice, but no worse than what we get with Star Wars.
[10] They aren't using the Millennium Falcon.
[11] The reason he did this was similar to Anakin: he believed that only by using the increased power of the Dark Side that he could finally defeat the Empire and unite the galaxy. Unfortunately, the rest of the Jedi Order tried to have him arrested for it, forcing him to retreat to the Unknown Regions where he hooked up with the First Order, where he really got into esoteric Sith philosophy. Also, I wasn't going to have an "I am your father" scene. I'm not that much of a hack.
[12] While they have lost control of Starkiller Base, the Republic still has access to its communication systems. Our protagonists are listening in on Luke's speech.
[13] And doubtless to fulfill a term in Harrison Ford's agreement to be in the movie in the first place.
[14] One of my main complaints with the movie is that the threw out Starkiller Base too soon. It should have been an everpresent threat throughout the trilogy, which is what I have here. Starkiller Base will be destroyed, probably by a Death Star, in Episode IX.
[15] Yeah, I'm setting up a hero/villain swap here. One of the more interesting theories I've heard is that this is what will happen with the sequels: Kylo Ren will become good again, and Rey becomes evil. I like the idea of Rey becoming the apprentice Luke always wanted, and being much better at being a Sith lord than Kylo Ren.
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Comments: 108
*Hedley Lamarr voice* kinky idea: the Rebels we see in the original trilogy are the equivalent of the OSS, unconventional forces able to pod-drop in any conditions, find any locals, rally them against the jackboots and their collaborators; they spilled blood, happily or otherwise, in the name of fighting the ultimate evil--the language of dirty tricks, acceptable losses, ethnic forcible relocation, collateral damage,
meanwhile the Empire recedes from its planet-cracking, rage-feeding, burn-the-cosmos-for-one-man heights and is taken over by your Pellaeons and Thrawns and Kanes and Fels and Ysards: the New Republic figures that they're better able to retrench and dirties itself by backing neo-Sith hardliners and neo-Mandalorian blood-drinkers at its fringes, even intel networks of supporters of Palpatine's succession--even Contingency perpetrators!
of course most ops are initially against justifiably-bad groups like the Hutts (but with some ties to other smugglers, revealed by reporter-historian-planetologists who later disappeared) or Stormtrooper holdouts (but allying with groups the 501st had to order back to keep the massacres off the Feed); initially it’s silly stuff like pod-dropping food synthesizers and Wookiee prophylactics relabeled “medium” on Imperial planets, holograms of local Savior-figures projected in the fog to topple a disvafored regime, and fungus-infested EVA suits
“there are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply”--naturally the Imperial Remnant won’t hesitate to send the Troopers to worlds on its frontier, but that’s it’s only reach: it’s strategy is the volumetric “elephant” to TNR’s hyperlane-hopping “whale” popping up kiloparsecs away from its quadrants
fast-forward some decades, Rieekan and Madine's names are mostly remembered on some giant new Coruscanti arcologies; Skywalker’s publicly condemned attempts to make the Jedi the cloak-and-dagger arms of TNR, or to have an ops-fixated power behind the throne that doesn’t know a damn thing what it’s doing on a faroff planet: ultimately it’ll hollow out the New Republic faster than a hundred Palpatines did the Old; nevertheless his own sister is a firm believer in dirty deeds done dirt cheap, separating her from her brother and eventually husband
there’s no phantom they won’t chase--if a reform movement has activists who show any emotion, well that’s the first step to Sith doctrine! even the blandest of politicese by a freely-elected official is suspect if it advocates any policy someone said with any verve kiloparsecs away
so the whole back of dirty tricks gets dumped on proclaimed “Neo-Imperial” or “Sith” enemies of TNR--planted arms caches, shuttle bombings, running Spice and stuff much harder than that, “neutralization” lists, planetary sieges where nobody admits to who gave the order, punishment against staunch New Republic allies, hitting TNR ships, the scum of Canto Bight, poisoned deathsticks, bombing malls and temples, “swamp draining” where random people tortured and eventually murdered for the names of potential sympathizers, murders of offworld constitutionalists even in Coruscant itself, undermining peace negotiations they supported in public
one of these supported groups is some evident Force fanatics, deliriously likened to Valorum and Skywalker--hey, YOU see how long you stay sane with a galaxy of self-preserving life whispering in your ear ... naturally they prove the hardest and best foes against the Imps, though there’s debate over their effect
the Remnant formally implodes, though it remains on paper and makes a bit of a survival under a paper-pushing gym-bunny leader whose sole characteristic is not being too drunk to get out of his chair; the tradition of blaming the Imps for so much as an ingrown nail becomes a pathology, a well-known joke; neo-Sith and neo-Mandalorians have been stoked by TNR all this time; eventually one of these groups--always kept at second hand and arm’s length--lands a big blow against TNR one bright clear day as the planet’s axis starts tilting away from equinox
perhaps it's interpreted as a moral strike, at least initially
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So, May I ask what kind of Ships the First Order uses? Hand-me-Downs from the Empire?
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I mean, z"Space ISIS" is kind of how I interpreted the Canon First Order. We just come in at a point where they're winning.
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Have you imagined what imperial and republic ships look like?
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I imagined the Imps using a lot of Civil War surplus. So, the same stuff as the OT but rustier. Republic ships look like the Axiom, if a bit grittier.
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Do any of the powers have anything similar to the supremacy? (Maybe for mounting a superlaser?)
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Probably the Republic’s. The Empire is too poor to build too many new things.
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So would the Empire be using Sequel Trilogy Stormtrooper armor as the First Order uses OT Stormtrooper Armor? Also, do you intend to remake Episodes 8 and 9 when they come out?
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If the New Republic doesn't have Coruscant, what is its new capital?
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Maybe Alderaan or Corellia (two important and rich core worlds)
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In the fillm the Starkiller Base destroys Hosnian Prime. (Not sure if its the capital or just an reg planet)
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It was the capital at the time.
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When the Empire came to crush the Gungans....
"Weesa shall defend weesa planet, whatever da cost may be; weesa shall fight onda beaches, weesa shall fight onda land grounds, weesa shall fight inda fields and inda streets, weesa shall fight inda hills; weesa shall never surrender!"
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The whole 'Peace Stars' does not make sense, and is a sort of, kind of, dumb. (Not to be mean.) Militarily and politically, the Death Star makes no sense.
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I like the idea of both the Republic and the Empire creating their own Death Stars, as it reminds me of the "MAD" concept.
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I see it more as a matter of practicality for the Second Republic to have their own version of the Death Star. I see it as a deterrent for an all out war with the Empire as they now stand on equal footing with the former superpower and can inflict just as much harm as the Empire could. To the Moffs, this would make war with the Second Republic very unpopular. Politically it would be seen as a necessary evil and militarily, it's comparable to real world politics and the creation of nuclear weapons. The Death/Peace Stars keep the galaxy from tearing itself apart and Starkiller Base here serves a similar function to a hydrogen bomb.
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Care to explain your position?
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I’m getting some Star Wars: Infinities tinglies here! A full-blown Dark-Side magocracy (Dark Empire style) would also explain a lot of the suicide attacks, rampant heresy, and all-around violence, like IS’s nihilism and classic kharijism attacking the ulema. Like the First Order, IS is also an externally-fed proxy force that wouldn't stand on its own. As for the Resistance it would be more “manifest-destiny the multiverse for democracy” and even a Malbus-like “lux vult!” fanatic movement. It could be like all those far-right groups and mercs who fought in Nicaragua and created many of the Iran-Contra networks under Ollie North's eye (they even tried to blow up the ambassador to Costa Rica once!)
The Starkiller could be an anti-First Order rather than -Empire weapon; it could even be a joint project, letting the infiltrators just swap armor and protocols. I think wholesale Peace Stars would be just too ooky after a few planets and many, many single-reactor shots. They wouldn't be designed as a mobile throneworld, either. The analogue would be like One WTC--slimmer, newer, a way to fight back.
Hutts could even push the xeno-equality and -supremacism movements. Maybe also there's a Trump analogue as Chief of State, almost smitten with Isard or her II successor even if he goes along with the war. (And meanwhile Borsk Fey'lya still says that Imperial slicers hacked his documents to the HoloNet and shown him a corrupt cheater...)
Tarkin’s going to be the touchstone for Imperialist revisionists--that it was Himmler and Heydrich, men more evil than their Führer, going out of their way to fulfill his goals but responsible for the massacres everyone remembers. I don’t think Vader could be "Rommeled," but he’d be like Nagasaki--a necessary evil denied only by ivory-tower "experts," or probably Eberhard von Mackensen or Paul Hausser. The rest of the 0 BBY imperials are the Rundstedts and Brauchitschs and Bocks and Papons and Galtieris.
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I pictured some of the more fanatical members of the Resistance posing a problem down the road, with some of them so focused on destroying the Empire they've become unwitting pawns to the First Order by sabotaging the Republic's attempts to work with the Empire.
I pictured Starkiller being anti-Empire, because the First Order is too "ephemeral" to be targeted with such a weapon. They don't even know where Snoke is. I do imagine the Peace Stars being smaller than the old Death Stars, perhaps a superlaser mounted on a large vessel.
The Hutts aren't too interested in the internal politics of the Republic, so long as the Republic is too internally divided and distracted to do anything about the galactic crime scene.
Yeah, I imagine a lot of "Sheev did nothing wrong" stuff we see in the Star Wars fandom in real life being used by the Empire in-universe.
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always with the "he was just trying to unify them before the Yuuzhan Vong" excuse! (though that sounds more like Stalin)
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TBF I'm also not too keen on the "Sheev's a brainless bestial clod"--he had to maneuver his way among the most sophisticated and learned people in 300 centuries
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The novelization of the first Star Wars film outright stated that Emperor Palpatine was just a helpless puppet of the Imperial bureaucracy, rather than a Sith Lord. (Sith Lords are mentioned, but only Vader is described as being one.) And remember, in the first film the dude getting choked for having a disturbing lack of faith seems completely unaware that the Emperor is some kind of Force-y person. I can see the Empire blaming all the evil wizard stuff on Vader.
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I pictured Palpatine kept the evil wizard stuff secret; he had nothing to gain from revealing this to all but Vader and maybe the very uppermost levels of the Imperial bureaucracy. I do picture the Empire going "Sheev did nothing wrong and has nothing to do with the First Order."
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oo, maybe a more Milošević type--a political nobody who, driven by a greater agenda, seizes total power by playing off the squabbling disunited federation' factions and ethnicities (which can be played up post-takeover)
you have ethnic nationalism and opportunism, while Vader can play the roles of “gallant knight” Arkan and Tarkin the “plausible-deniability” Šešelj or Mladić; there’s even an Anti-Bureaucratic Revolution, of all things
Jasenovac-style human purges by filthy xenos (I’m not saying ALL xenos are filthy, but these were definitely “filthy xenos” if that word ever has any meaning) are not impossible in the SW Galaxy; the old Diversity Alliance sounds close to the KSC's "you did it to our civilians, we'll do it to yours"
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the novelization was so weird--it's pretty close to the The Star Wars based off Lucas's original script
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I do like this especially Lukes turn to the dark side and creation of the first order; however I thought it could have also been interesting to have Luke in charge of the Empire instead of with the first order.
After Luke kills the emperor he sees a vision of the power vacuum and chaos that will engulf most of the former empire and the rise of the First Order Sith revivalist In order to save lives as well as prevent the rebellion from fracturing along with the empire into squabbling warlord states in the face of the First order, he reluctantly takes up the role as emperor to bring balance to the force as a necessary evil. He subsequently makes the empire more practical- ATATs scrapped into tanks for days- and less needlessly authoritarian; however, this means the empire is a slightly worse entity since now it actually has the chance of remaining stable as totalitarian state for centuries or possibly millennia after Luke's death. The New Republic hates Luke viewing him as a traitor who was in it only for power, and the First Order hates Luke for creating a secular state out of what was supposed to become their grand Sith theocracy.
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That also fits with the Dune element in Star Wars' DNA. Skywalker can start out, or even still be, one of those ever-irritating Grey Jedi, “above good and evil” and manipulating everything for the greater good (always as they discern it).
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Huh, that is an interesting angle.
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is this considered part of your Canon (as in, connected to the prequels you created)?
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No, this goes with the Lucas prequels.
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Funny story: since Luke briefly became the reborn Sidious' apprentice in Dark Empire, and then killed his master, technically Luke is actually the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith as well as being Grandmaster of the Jedi. Talk about bringing balance to the Force!
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I remember reading about this in a star wars encyclopedia. I thought there were some interesting elements to that story; especially with the elite imperial pilots having their brains removed and put in drone fighters that could do atmospheric and space combat maneuvers that would kill any one in a manned fighter.
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Like a lot of pre-prequel Star Wars it's pretty odd, at least in how it used to talk about the dark side before the Sith were firmly established in the lore. But I always liked the way it portrayed Luke's apprenticeship to Sidious. Luke wants to get close to Sidious to destroy his cloning facilities, and also try to understand just why Anakin joined the Sith in the first place. He thinks that as the most powerful Jedi left alive that he can trick Sidious without falling (hubris! character flaw!), but doesn't realize how far he's sunk until it's almost too late.
It's an interesting story with potential, that fits in better with the movie's themes than a lot of EU stuff while also being noticeably different.
And yeah, the drone fighters were awesome.
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I'd say the Sith here should be renamed to something else, since the entire point of Anakin's/Vader's story is to defeat the Sith and "bring balance to the Force." Since you aren't shying away from the Prequels like Disney here, that would only reinforce Anakin's destiny. Having the Sith Order still lingering around would contradict this, but maybe you could have these guys contrast the Sith; whereas the Sith desire power and control through the Dark Side, culminating in Palpatine and his empire (and by extension - achieve an evil/dark *Order* to contrast the Jedi's thousand-generations-long good/light *Order*) this group under Luke/Snoke would desire pure *chaos*, so as you said the stronger individuals would flourish and the weak be crushed or suffer. Maybe while Luke is doing this to confront a greater evil in the universe (like Revan), his *sith acolytes and underlings desire a chaotic world to maximize their freedom, perhaps looking to other ancient Sith like Nihilius.
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They are a new Sith Order, founded by Luke. I decided to keep the name to keep it simple: everyone knows that the Sith are bad dudes.
I do like the angle of Luke pursuing chaos, but to me that doesn't make for a very convincing turn. Luke didn't join the Rebellion because he had some deep-seated anarchistic beliefs, and he didn't develop those. He genuinely wanted a peaceful galaxy. If you look at how he was tempted to the Dark Side in the original trilogy, it's under the idea that the Dark Side is stronger and he could use it to achieve his noble objectives. Raising hell isn't in his character. I also deliberately went for some poetry: Luke's fall was just like his father's.
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Have you ever read Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor? Trust me, there are plenty of dark side cults out there just as evil as the Sith. One of them almost possessed Luke's body a year after Endor. I mean, that's Luke's body, but is Luke the one in there?...
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Wow, this is great stuff! I like that you took a different approach with this movie than you did with the prequels, tweaking the story to make it more to your liking rather than make up an entirely new one. Both approaches are a lot of fun.
With regards to the First Order: One idea for an in-universe piece of propaganda I've had for a while is "true Sithism has never been tried". Sith philosophy in the expanded universe makes it out to be some kind of Stirnerian New Age LaVeyanism where only the power and passion of the individual matters, but the Sheev regime is clearly speciesist, possibly sexist and very collectivist/conformist. Post-Endor Sithists might very well want to distance themselves from the Palpatine "state Jediist" (okay, needs a better name) system, although they could idolize Darth Vader all they want. (The guy who never had the opportunity to lead the Empire would OF COURSE have done a much better job than Palpatine and proven that Sithism actually works in real life, not just on paper. See: Trotsky.) To reflect this, you could go out of your way to show the First Order having non-humans and women in their ranks, since only individual strength (physical, mental, charismatic, or force-y) has any value, not your species or gender.
You wrote that the Empire was at least partly based on the USSR. I'm not an expert, but I was under the impression that the Empire was a one hundred percent, blatantly obvious Third Reich analogue?
Outing Snoke as Luke as early as possible is a good idea, IMO. His acting chops and appearance would make Mark Hamill a fantastic Charles Manson-style charisma monster. His speeches should probably be less "Hitler addressing the German people as inhuman demigod" and more "the father replacement who's the only one who understands you". Young Luke was likable and dorky and everyone's friend. Turning dark shouldn't change those parts of his personality, just twist them. Hell, if you call yourself something as inherently funny as "Snoke", you have no intention of turning yourself into Darth Vader 2.0.
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I definitely like true Sithism has never been tried idea. Maybe throw in some historical revisionism about how the old republic era Sith Empire was a noble utopia base on true meritocracy that was crushed by the Expansionist Imperialist early Republic.
However barely anyone has any real records of the early old Republic era except for the Jedi to know for sure what the original Sith actually were.
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Hah, that's brilliant! I, for one, am proud to be part of the vanguard of revisionist Sith historians. I'll try very hard not to slip into Alderaan Holocaust denial, though ...
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With regards to the First Order: One idea for an in-universe piece of propaganda I've had for a while is "true Sithism has never been tried". Sith philosophy in the expanded universe makes it out to be some kind of Stirnerian New Age LaVeyanism where only the power and passion of the individual matters, but the Sheev regime is clearly speciesist, possibly sexist and very collectivist/conformist. Post-Endor Sithists might very well want to distance themselves from the Palpatine "state Jediist" (okay, needs a better name) system, although they could idolize Darth Vader all they want. (The guy who never had the opportunity to lead the Empire would OF COURSE have done a much better job than Palpatine and proven that Sithism actually works in real life, not just on paper. See: Trotsky.) To reflect this, you could go out of your way to show the First Order having non-humans and women in their ranks, since only individual strength (physical, mental, charismatic, or force-y) has any value, not your species or gender.Yeah, I agree with this, and I did imagine the First Order not being as chauvinistic as the old Empire or its current incarnation. There are human supremacists in the ranks, but that only shows how much of a hodgepodge the First Order is. The First Order is a ragtag bunch who are stealing all of their crap, not the Empire 2.0 that we got.
You wrote that the Empire was at least partly based on the USSR. I'm not an expert, but I was under the impression that the Empire was a one hundred percent, blatantly obvious Third Reich analogue?There is a very small bit of Soviet influence, but you are right, it's almost all Third Reich.
Outing Snoke as Luke as early as possible is a good idea, IMO. His acting chops and appearance would make Mark Hamill a fantastic Charles Manson-style charisma monster. His speeches should probably be less "Hitler addressing the German people as inhuman demigod" and more "the father replacement who's the only one who understands you". Young Luke was likable and dorky and everyone's friend. Turning dark shouldn't change those parts of his personality, just twist them. Hell, if you call yourself something as inherently funny as "Snoke", you have no intention of turning yourself into Darth Vader 2.0.I had "evil wise man" in mind when I wrote this. When Luke is talking about using Starkiller Base to decapitate the galactic governments, he isn't doing his best Hitler impression. He's musing about how this is the inevitable conclusion of the "unnatural disorder" that has plagued the galaxy since the days of the Old Republic, and how this really will turn out for the best for the Force and the entire galaxy.
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yeah, what I'd imagine is an Empire that's more reasonable than the screaming maniacs, incompetents, and drug/Force addicts promoted under Palpatine to keep everyone divided--where else would Kadann's clown show have worked? You'd get your Fels and Pellaeons. Nazi-analogue Humanocentrism would've faded to something like OTL Russia's West-baiting Eurasianism (Putin doesn't really listen to Dugin).
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Yeah, I agree with this, and I did imagine the First Order not being as chauvinistic as the old Empire or its current incarnation. There are human supremacists in the ranks, but that only shows how much of a hodgepodge the First Order is. The First Order is a ragtag bunch who are stealing all of their crap, not the Empire 2.0 that we got.Neat! Another question: Are Snoke and Kylo Ren the only proper Sith force-users in the First Order, or are there a bunch of evil lazor sword-wielding ninja-flipping maniacs running around?
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I'm imagining a lot of wannabes among their ranks, but only Snoke and Ren are proper Sith.
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