“It’s Treason Then” — How the Star Wars Sequel Finale Defiles the Grave of Palpatine A film analysis of the movie Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker (2020) Written by Faisal Hay1 1
First-year undergraduate of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be… unnatural.” These were the words spoken by Chancellor Sheev Palpatine to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker in the opera scene of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, when the former recounted the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis “The Wise”, a Sith Lord who could supposedly manipulate the Force to prevent the inevitability of death. This would serve as one of many acts of manipulation by Palpatine, who was in actuality the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, in tempting Anakin toward the Dark Side of the Force and establishing him as the iconic Darth Vader; he then proceeded to use his position as Chancellor of the Galactic Republic to execute Order 66 against his enemies, destroying the Jedi Order and declare the beginning of a Galactic Empire which he would rule with an iron fist as Emperor Palpatine. With the entire galaxy under his heel and a vast imperial military at his disposal, it was only through the tenacious efforts of the Rebel Alliance, the stoic heroism of Jedi Luke Skywalker (whom Palpatine attempted to seduce like his father before him) and the redemption of Anakin Skywalker that his evil reign would be brought to a well-deserved end. Sheev Palpatine, main antagonist of the Star Wars Original and Prequel trilogies, can easily be considered one of the greatest villains in the history of film, and a perfect example of the Evil Mastermind archetype. Sadly, this Palpatine — like many fan-favorite characters of the past — would have his character and legacy tarnished by the recently concluded Sequel trilogy. How they did it: by taking that quotable line from Revenge of the Sith’s opera scene and turning it into an entire film. Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker may well be considered the Alderaan of screenwriting; a cinematic disaster that fails at nearly every level of storytelling, from gaping plot holes to unnecessary McGuffins to even a blatant Avengers: Endgame rip-off for a climax. Yet, like the preceding films in the Sequel trilogy, Rise of Skywalker suffers most of all from its poorly-written characters, be they primary or secondary, hero or villain, older generation or new. Furthermore, the first two films have already seen a good number of these characters killed off, including the poorly written antagonist Supreme Leader Snoke, leaving Rise of Skywalker with the difficult task of taking the overarching conflict of those who remained and giving it a satisfying resolution. In doing so, however, it would also attempt to fill the antagonistic void left by Snoke; hence were the circumstances surrounding Emperor Palpatine’s sudden return as the trilogy’s final antagonist — “A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one,’’ right? Initially perhaps, but as it turns out Palpatine would not only find himself no exception to poor character writing in this trilogy, but perhaps one of the most jarring examples as well; in fact, the presence of Sheev in Rise of Skywalker and his role as its antagonist would go on to negatively affect the other storytelling aspects in this film as well, like the tentacles of a Diagnona ensnaring its victims within the trash compactor that is the Sequel trilogy. Screenwriters’ Perspectives Vol. 1 No. 1 2020
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