At this point anything that’s being said about Rise of Skywalker or anything that has to do with Star Wars appears to be aimed at getting another rise out of a fan base that’s finally settled like an angry nest of hornets after being kicked repeatedly. Christian Bone of We Got This Covered won’t be likely to create a stinging cloud of criticism and frenzied fan mail that will continue to envelop anyone that comes close, but the alternate ending to ROS is definitely something one should think twice about before mentioning in the midst of a Star Wars convention since it’s still likely to spark debate. It’s amusing really that after The Last Jedi so many people were willing to roast anyone that didn’t cater to what they want that it felt likely that ROS would be watched carefully and picked apart for any inaccuracies. Yet now the movie has been criticized and pulled at and even mocked occasionally for its decision to take the villain, Kylo Ren, and grant him a bit of redemption by allowing him to sacrifice himself for Rey, who would have died in the final fight with Palpatine, and people are still salty about it. The alternate ending however might have been met with even more resistance however since it called for Rey simply passing on and Kylo surviving as the final Force-user, to live and atone for his sins during his time with the First Order.
In an era where so many people are wanting to see women as the hero and the final survivor, one can just imagine the backlash that might have occurred had this happened, especially given the immense buildup that Rey has been given throughout the story. How many are willing to bet that the cries of ‘patriarchy’ would be attributed to Star Wars and that Kylo would have been lambasted as the ‘male savior’ had this ending been kept? It’s a moot point now since Rey did get to live and Kylo was allowed to sacrifice himself for the greater good, but simply thinking about this alternate ending not only opens more ideas for a redemptive arc that could continue the story, but it makes one wonder if Ridley’s time in the Star Wars franchise is in fact done. So far as anyone knows she’s over and done with when it comes to the saga, even if naming herself a Skywalker does open several doors that could be opened at a later date, but the point here is that since she was allowed to survive and the alternate ending was never used, it would appear that the fans are still divided over who should have walked away from the confrontation. Tiny Diapana of Epic Stream has more to say on this thread.
Sigh. Pleasing the fans isn’t easy and sometimes it’s not even a possibility since everyone wants something different and only those that realize the story must eventually go on are the ones that are willing to compromise at times. In the case of Star Wars the entire story kind of went off the rails the moment that Disney took over and decided that they were going to shake up the Star Wars universe, add some of their own special touches to it, and see what came out. So far what’s come out has made the Mouse House a great deal of money, enough that it’s made what they gave George Lucas look like a pittance since the realization should have always been that much like a pawnbroker, Disney was going to pay as little as they had to in the knowledge that what they were gaining could be flipped and turned around for a massive profit that would be more than worth what it cost them to obtain. In the process they revived an old and favored character, created new ones that allowed for a female hero that people flocked to, women in particular that were psyched to see a heroine take the reins, and they began to eliminate old characters that no longer fit the narrative they wanted. Megan Garber of The Atlantic chimed in a few years back with her own opinion on this development. In other words it was in with the new and out with the old, unless of course some aspects of the old were able to be embraced by the audience they were seeking to attract.
Overall this latest trilogy was a good deal of fun with a moment of uncertainty titled The Last Jedi. But in all fairness the trilogy ended as it should have since killing off Rey would have been a huge mistake while allowing Kylo to perform one final act of redemption was likely a smart and very wise move since it completed his arc and left the ending somewhat uncertain since at this point it would sound as though a lot of the cast aren’t bound to come back for any more movies, though it’s fair to say that anything could happen in the coming years.
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