The final chapter in the nine film Skywalker saga has premiered, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a tall order to fill. It needed to neatly tie up the plot points of eight previous films, give the legions of Star Wars fans what they wanted, and respectfully send off the franchise that visionary George Lucas created when Star Wars debuted in 1977.
While it does a credible job of expanding on the thematic elements from the eight previous films, it is its duty to do right by the original trilogy fans are most concerned with. Both heroes and villains found themselves playthings at the mercy of the ultimate puppet master, Emperor Palpatine, a character which neatly threads the films together. As certain mysteries were revealed, from the origins of Rey's parents to the origins of Supreme Leader Snoke, their telling created more. Here are 10 Original Trilogy storylines that were never resolved.
10 DID PALPATINE ALWAYS INTEND TO FIND A HOST BODY LIKE REY?
In Return of the Jedi, Palpatine tries to bait Luke in the same way he tries to bate Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. "I am defenseless," he croons, gesturing to Luke and his lightsaber. "Strike me down with all of your hatred, then your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete".
When addressing Rey, he makes it clear that when she does the same, he'll transfer his essence (and the essence of all the Sith) into her and rule as Empress. Was this Palpatine's plan for immortality all along? A common practice of the Sith involved apprentices slaying their masters to gain their power, but perhaps discerning masters did the same to their apprentices.
9 DID VADER BRING BALANCE TO THE FORCE?
In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we hear Anakin Skywalker's voice floating to Rey telling her to "bring Balance to the Force" like he did. Was this really accomplished by the time of the events of Return of the Jedi, when he passed away?
Darth Vader couldn't allow Luke Skywalker to be killed by the Emperor. After destroying the Emperor and saving his son, his body was too weakened. Despite Luke's effort to save him he passed away, but redeemed himself in the end by becoming one with the Force. Was this bringing about balance, and did Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker negate his sacrifice?
8 WHAT HAPPENED TO LANDO AFTER RETURN OF THE JEDI?
When last we saw General Calrissian, he had just valiantly helped the Rebel Alliance deliver the final blow to the Empire by destroying the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. After that, it was presumed he could have returned to Cloud City because Imperial occupation would be ending.
When we run into Lando in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we don't really know what he was doing. Yes, there were missions with Luke trying to track down the coordinates for Exegol, but Luke became a recluse on Ahch-To for some time, so why did Lando remain on Pasaana? Was he forgotten there, perpetually on his last assignment?
7 WHAT HAPPENED TO THE IMPERIAL LOYALISTS?
We know from watching the original trilogy that the Imperial Fleet was vast. Destroying two Death Stars wouldn't be enough to cripple it because there were thousands of Star Destroyers, garrisons, bases, and troops occupying every part of the known galaxy.
Where did the Imperial loyalists go? Some would become part of the First Order, but others became part of the Final Order, a separate force operated by officers sporting a Sith crest. Why did Palpatine shield himself from the First Order, put his puppet Snoke in charge, and then work on a separate faction? If the Final Order is able to build planet-destroying ships, why allow the First Order to waste time constructing Starkiller Base?
6 HOW DID PALPATINE SURVIVE DEATH?
In one of the most emotionally stirring scenes in the entire original trilogy, Darth Vader picks up Emperor Palpatine and throws him down a reactor shaft when he realizes his son might die at the Emperor's hand. Palpatine's jagged black form is seen and heard screaming down into a kinetic abyss of lightning.
When next we meet the great galactic puppet master in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, he's clinging to life, supported by a series of tubes that seem to keep his sagging flesh upright. How are we supposed to believe Palpatine survived what was most certainly his death? Or is this simply another clone? Palpatine was searching for the path to immortality along with Darth Plagueis.
5 HOW DID MAZ KANATA ACQUIRE LUKE'S LIGHTSABER?
In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke loses his lightsaber when he loses his hand in the climactic duel with Vader on Cloud City. His lightsaber (with hand still attached) goes sailing into space, yet somehow got retrieved by Maz Kanata, who kept it safe for Rey.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have concluded where the lightsaber had gone, but when pressed, Kanata simply said that the how portion was a "story for another time". Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was evidently never going to be that time, so we'll never know.
4 HOW DID LUKE COMPLETE HIS TRAINING AND BUILD HIS OWN LIGHTSABER?
Darth Vader marvels at Luke Skywalker's ability to construct a new lightsaber in Return of the Jedi, pushing the Proud Papa moment a step further by laying on the thick praise, "Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen". There are no canon explanations of how Luke found a green kyber crystal, only that he constructed his saber from parts in Ol' Ben's hut.
This mirrors the confusing fact that Rey also appears to randomly have constructed her own yellow-bladed saber at the conclusion of The Rise of Skywalker. Kyber crystals are difficult to find (especially yellow ones), which is one of the reasons why it was considered a part of the completion of a Jedi's training to find one and construction their Jedi weapon.
3 WHAT'S UP WITH THE WAY FORCE GHOSTS OPERATE?
In the original trilogy, Luke is visited by three Force ghosts. One is Obi-Wan Kenobi (most prominently) and the others are Yoda and Anakin Skywalker (after he's redeemed). Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda's bodies became one with the Force, but Anakin's body was physically burned on a funeral pyre.
In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is visited by Luke and Leia. Yet in the Emperor's throne room on Exegol, we hear the spirits of Qui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu, Jedi who retained their physical bodies when they passed yet seem able to communicate after death. There is never any clear indication of why some Jedi are able to manifest, despite the presence (or lack) of a corpse.
2 "I CANNOT INTERFERE"
As Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghost famously told Luke, he couldn't "interfere" with Luke's confrontation with Darth Vader on Cloud City. It wasn't specifically stated whether or not this was a choice of Ol' Ben's because he disapproved of Luke's impulsive actions, or because as a Force ghost he literally couldn't be of much help.
However, as we see in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Luke's Force ghost can interact with the corporeal realm, going so far as to hold the lightsaber Rey chucks into the blazes of Kylo Ren's smoldering fighter. And he plenty "interferes" by levitating his X-Wing out of the sea surrounding Ahch-To so Rey has a getaway vehicle.
1 HOW COULD EVERYONE UNDERSTAND R2?
From the time Star Wars premiered in 1977 and the world's most lovable droid duo lit up the screen, there's always been a bit of mystery around R2-D2. He's got a lot of personality for a little droid, and some fans have wondered if that isn't because his memory has never been wiped.
The real question is, how was Luke always able to understand him in the original trilogy? Rey is a scavenger and might be familiar with droid language, so her communication with BB-8 isn't as surprising, but Luke has always been able to instinctively know what R2 says, the same way Anakin did in the prequel trilogy.
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