Did a little fanfiction in the other thread:
First off:
- Do not do shit with Leia. She dies in between movies and the movie either starts with her funeral or the heroes being down because without Leia, they face a leadership vaccuum and none of our characters consider themselves strong enough to take up the mantle of Leia. I get that the third movie was supposed to be Leia's movie, but she died in between, so unfortunately nature came in between the plans. Taking that unused footage and splicing it up with CG only made things incredibly awkward and unnatural.
- No new big bad. We're working with the villains from the first two movies. No 'IT WAS ME ALL ALONG' reveal because that's incredibly stupid. Sheev is were he should be, dead in the smoldering ruins of the Second Death Star.
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So let's go:
Star Wars Ep. IX as told by CloudWolf:
- Rey's conflict comes from within. The words of Luke are in her mind, his will to destroy the Jedi, while clearly wrong, still reverberated. Clearly, Jedi of the past did something wrong. Maybe they need to be reformed and she, as the last Jedi and with the original Jedi texts in her possession, can maybe create a new, better order. Now, this could be controversial, but she actually takes a rather passive role in the film, trying to figure out what went wrong and how to improve on the past. In the end, of course, she will figure out what has to be done and goes to confront Kylo.
- Poe's storyline will be that of him assuming the leadership role and growing into it. In The Last Jedi he learned that jumping headfirst into battle isn't necessarily always the answer and this would be an extension of that arc. Him learning what it means to lead people, to have people look up to you and count on you. This is important as Poe realizes that in order for a First Order to never happen again, they need to think about how to create a new and lasting rulership system as the New Republic clearly didn't work.
- Finn's story will focus on him trying to take down the First Order from within. He realizes that he cannot have been the only one with the ability to shake free from his indoctrination and goes looking for ways to get more Stormtroopers out of the First Order's control. He and Rose go deep undercover within the First Order to be able to do this. A task that is even harder than it looks because...
- The First Order is in turmoil after the events of The Last Jedi. The death of Snoke and the clear disapproval of the upper command of Kylo's methods and temper has split the faction right in two and Hux and his loyalists are in open revolt against Kylo Ren. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren is being tortured by visions of Luke, who is the light side equivalent of what Palpatine was for Anakin. Luke feels that Kylo is still being tortured by the call to the light and now Snoke's dead, there is no 'master' making sure Kylo doesn't stray from the dark. He also uses the fact that a big part of The First Order rose up against him as leverage against Kylo: he's alone in the world and will never be the dark leader that Snoke or Darth Vader were (I would imagine Luke also uses the 'even Vader turned to the light side'-argument).
- The tales of the Battle of Crait and the fact that the First Order is weak and instable is the spark needed for various systems to break free of the First Order's grasp and join up with the Resistance. They're growing in numbers and preparing for the final assault.
- The end conflict will include the remnants of the Resistance + the free systems vs. the First Order under leadership of Hux. Two fleets gather for a final assault, with the biggest First Order army thus far. Despite the infighting, The First Order still remains incredibly strong and victory seems unlikely and costly. However, when Hux orders everyone to attack... nothing happens. The Stormtroopers instead turn on the leadership of the First Order. Finn and Rose did it, they turned off the mind control/were able to turn most Stormtroopers loyal to their cause. The few troops still loyal to the First Order, mainly the commanders, are rounded up. A few are killed as they try to fight against the 'betrayal' of the Stormtroopers, but mostly the final battle happens without much loss of life. Hux immediately surrenders as he's a little cowardly shit.
- Meanwhile somewhere else, away from the First Order (Ahch-To or some other planet, but for the thematic importance, let's go for Ahch-To), Kylo is looking for anwers to his doubt within himself. Luke has gotten to him, he doubts his role as a leader and as a disciple of the Dark Side. Rey meets him and challenges him. This leads to a short lightsaber duel, which Rey easily wins as Kylo is just done. He begs Rey to kill him, as he's a failure. She refuses. Rey talks with him about her new order, her new ideas. How she needs him on her side to make it work... the last two Force users.
Kylo silently nods and retires his identity as Kylo Ren. However, Ben isn't joining Rey. He says he has to much to atone for, in his quest for power he killed hundreds of people and ordered/was indirectly responsible for a billion more. He can't join Rey's new order, as he knows that he will be attracted by the Dark Side and he can't be free from his deeds as Kylo Ren. He says he will cut himself off from the Force and go into exile, to atone for his crimes. He says his farewell to Rey before leaving in his Tie Fighter.
