Breaking Traditions in Star Wars - Part III (The Sequel Trilogy)

 

There’s a bit more to unpack here than in PART I and PART II, since the newer films always were going to mean some broken traditions. Some are due to the change in the studio and filmmakers, some due to modern storytelling sensibilities and some owing to the passage of time within the story.

Most are very minor, though, and often pass unnoticed by most casual viewers and even some fans, but nevertheless are fun to discuss.

Let’s start by those changes that affect the Sequel Trilogy as a whole rather than just a single film:

No 20^th Century Fox logo:

After the initial shock that followed the announcement that new Star Wars films would be made by Disney, one of my first realizations was “The Fox fanfare won’t precede the crawl!”.

I’ve long come to terms with that, even though Alfred Newman’s legendary fanfare just blended so well with William’s Main Title Theme that a part of me always expects to hear them together.

So, this one is quite obvious: unlike Lucas’ original six films, the Sequel Trilogy (and the Anthology) doesn’t feature the intro from the original studios, instead going for a silent Lucasfilm logo.

 

The Wilhelm Scream is retired (Except in VII):

With the exception of The Force Awakens, no other Disney Era film has included that most famous of sound effects, the Wilhelm Scream. Indeed, long-time Lucasfilm Sound Designer Matthew Wood has announced that they’re going to retire it from the franchise. This marks a departure from the six original films, all of which included it.

In the same vein, references to the number 1138 seem to have been removed from the films after The Force Awakens.

The only trilogy that is not fully linear:

During the original Star Wars Saga tenure, one of the unspoken rules was that the narrative was to be completely straightforward, without any flashbacks or other time-altering storytelling devices. The only, slightly out of place exception is Anakin’s vision of Padme’s death, which does not count since it’s not a real flashforward.

The Sequels, while still being rather linear, introduced actual flashbacks to the equation for the first time. We experience one in The Force Awakens after the discovery of the lightsaber, there’s the three dissenting memories in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker gets many short sequences of this nature as Rey discovers the past.

Another such instance, outside the Saga films, is Jyn’s dream in Rogue One, when she remembers her childhood in Coruscant. The Mandalorian is also using the flashback narrative device from time to time.

Bad Robot logo:

Abrams' films are the only ones in the history of the franchise that feature the logo of any other studio than Lucasfilm and 20^th. Century Fox.

It only appears at the very end of the credits, though, never in the opening. This is probably owing to the recognition that they couldn’t change such an iconic intro even further.

No appearance or mention of The Emperor:

His direct relation to Rey aside, I think The Emperor's return in The Rise of Skywalker is important because it gives structure to the Saga. Star Wars thus goes back to being what it was during Lucas’ original six films: the story of the struggle of the Skywalkers and the Light Side against the pure evil that is Palpatine.

Among casual viewers, he's many times overshadowed by Darth Vader as the franchise's main villain, put it's always Palpatine who has been the darkness behind everything. Name checked in the Anthology entries, as well as in the two Saga films where he doesn’t physically appear (A New Hope and The Last Jedi), he’s nevertheless quite absent from Episode VII, even though his deeds are still felt.

A dynamic final shot:

Just as Empire had a distinctive final shot, The Force Awakens also distinguises itself in a different way: It's the only film in which the camera actually moves as it ends.

Every other entry in the series (Saga and Anthology alike) features a relatively static camera shot, while this one is a sweeping aerial take.

 

No time jump between Episodes:

This is the only film within the Saga in which no significant time passes after the ending of the previous one.

The rest of the series contains in-between periods that vary from a year to three decades. This one, on the other hand, starts pretty much immediately after The Force Awakens ends.

The only similar happenstance, with only hours separating them, occurs between Rogue One and A New Hope, but that’s not among Saga instalments.

Nobody says “I’ve got a bad feeling about this”… in Basic:

Every film, both Saga and Anthology, features one or more variations of the famous line “I’ve got a bad feeling about this”. It can be a “very bad feeling”, for instance, or be interrupted as in Rogue One, while Solo opts to have a “good feeling”.

But The Last Jedi takes the variation too far. Though the phrase does appear, it’s not pronounced in English/Basic! Instead, it is said by BB-8 in his binary language, as his very first line in the film. You can infer it by the other characters’ responses, and it was also confirmed officially.

No Obi-Wan presence:

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s role in the main Saga is so important that, even after dying in the first released film, he went to appear in some way in every Episode except this one. That's something which only R2 & 3PO (they do appear in every Saga film) and Yoda (see PART I) can say.

While his presence is only visible in the first six films, Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost does speak to Rey in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, voiced by both Ewan McGregor and Alec Guiness. Sadly, Kenobi remains silent in The Last Jedi, breaking his streak.

He’s indirectly referred by Luke in dialogue, though, not to mention that his moniker lives trough Ben Solo, so even here, he’s far from forgotten.

The only Saga film without a regular lightsaber duel:

Every film in the Skywalker Saga has at least one lightsaber on lightsaber duel (Revenge of the Sith has five!). Although at first glance it might seem like Episode VIII is no exception, there’s are some technicalities that prevent it:

-The first show of swordsmanship in the film, other than Rey training by herself, is her attack on Luke. She uses her staff while the Jedi Master employs some piece of atmospheric equipment. By the moment when she does take a lightsaber, Luke isn’t even fighting anymore, and she just points it towards him.

-When Rey and Kylo Ren are about to fight each other with their lightsabers, they instead team up against the vengeful Praetorian Guard. One of the most exciting duels in the Saga, this one doesn’t count as a traditional lightsaber duel either, since their opponents are welding different weapons.

-During the Battle of Crait, both Kylo and Luke are wielding lightsabers, but of course, one of the duelers is just a mental projection who's using a fake weapon that has just been destroyed. Since Skywalker isn’t really there, you’ll notice that at no moment do their sabers even touch. He instead opts to masterfully evade Kylo, as any contact would give away his deception.

-The only instance of two lightsabers touching in this film is during Ben’s flashback, as he blocks Luke’s attack. It’s not a real duel, and doesn't take place during the film's timeline. It’s also a memory of something that didn't actually happen: Luke had the saber but he never attacked Ben.

Its title repeats a word from a previous one:

The term “Jedi” was of course already a part of Episode VI’s name, and is in fact its favourite denomination among many fans, who often refer to the films using simply words like Empire and Revenge.

This link between Return of the Jedi and The Last Jedi is unique within the franchise, which has always used differentiated words for its film's titles, with the exception of “The” and “Of”.

No main characters in the final shot or scene:

While every other film in the series ends with a scene (and a final shot) pertaining some of our main characters, The Last Jedi does not.

It does have a very similar scene to a traditional finale, with all surviving heroes aboard the Millenium Falcon, but after that it shift to Canto Bight and the stable kids we briefly met earlier, then closing with the famous "Broom Boy" who was so controversial among the film's detractors.

I personally find it a very fitting end to the film's themes, one that focuses on the legacy of Luke's Legend (and the other deeds of the Resistance) on the inhabitants of the Galaxy at large. It's not only the scene that redeems the heroes -without even showing them-, but it also gives sense to the Galactic people answering the call in Episode IX.

It's also important on a metatextual level. See the kids playing with their toys. Not only does the Legend of Luke matter in his universe. It also parallels how we as audiences were inspired by the Legend of Star Wars.

Thanks to Matsemitsu for pointing to this item!

Everybody keeps their limbs:

Maybe I’m misremembering, but I don’t think there are any appendage amputations in The Rise of Skywalker. There is a beheading, but I’m hesitant to put it in the same category.

Star Wars is famous for its severed hands, arms and legs. Obi-Wan can hardly approach a bar without cutting one, and he also left poor Maul legless. Luke and Vader are linked by their limb loses, though father fared way worse than son. Droids also lose them frequently. Chewbacca is famous for dismembering people, and we finally watch him do it in Solo. Saw Guerrera has lost a leg since we saw him in two animated series.

The Force Awakens has a still canonical deleted scene in which Chewie dispatched Unkar Plutt’s arms, but I’m counting tat film anyway because C-3PO makes a lot of fuss over having lost an arm recently.

That leaves Episode IX as the odd man out. As a consolation, at least Sidious' cloned form is missing parts of his hands.

Nobody says “May the Force be with you”:

The Rise of Skywalker does include "The Force will be with you, always", but the final film in the Saga is the only one in which no variation of the franchise’s famous line "May the Force be with you" is said by any character. Even Rogue One has it multiple times.

Solo doesn’t, of course, but there’s a whole segment expanding upon that on PART IV.

To read about that point and much more, check out the final part