Episode IX Speculation and Discussion
- Thread starter INACTIVESamusAranX
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She didn't.
Oh, yeah. The action figures and merchandising had a life of its own, as well as the fact that Lucas has a follow-up novel planned in case SW didn't make enough money to net a sequel. I would never pretend that SW has never been about selling merchandising, books, comics, and all.
On the topic of the lightsaber, I personally thought of a new edit for ESB-Vader cuts off Luke's hand and calls the saber to him, a'la Dooku.
She did, actually. As I recall, she specifically said that it was a story for another time. Law of Chekhov's Gun. Don't put it on the table unless you intend to use it. You should never have a character claim there is a story to an item if you don't intend to tell it at some point.
But, in terms of the real world, JJ Abrams didn't care how Maz got it, or whether it made any sense that she had it. He needed the lightsaber as a McGuffin, reason be damned. It's a lazy, hand wave explanation. I don't think we should expect how Maz got it to ever play into the larger story, because the people who came up with that story don't care.
It's the same reason why I don't expect we'll get any explanation at all as to how the Emperor is still around. It would require effort, and the people behind TFA and Rise of Skywalker don't have time for that. They want their McGuffin, or their big villain reveal. Logic, reason, or the previous films be damned. I, in all seriousness, expect somebody to ask Palps how he's back, and his word for word response to be "Wouldn't you like to know!" with a sneer. Because, yes, we would. But we're not going to, because Abrams.
Not everything is a "Chekhov's Gun"; some things are simply throwaways.
Maz's line is an example of the latter, not the former.
finally someone that has common sense
No, it's an example of poor writing. Two background Stormtroopers having a conversation about speeders while Obi-Wan sneaks around is a throw away. Nobody expects anything from that conversation to matter. If a character arrives on screen, and somebody asks them where they had been and they say "I was at Bob's", you don't necessarily expect to meet Bob. It's enough to know that our character was away visiting Bob.
This is more akin to how Darth Maul survived being cut in half in TPM. To which The Clone Wars answer was "hate". That's kind of a throwaway, but it fits so perfectly into who Darth Maul is that you don't really mind. It gets to the core of his character without needing any complicated explanations. Also, he's a Sith. So space magic. But here, Maz not only has the lightsaber, but she KNOWS WHAT SHE HAS. It's one thing if she had no idea who it had belonged to or what it's significance might be. If Rey had stumbled across it and left Maz stunned that she had this incredible relic in her care the whole time. If we're supposed to care about the fact that the lightsaber has come into Rey's possession, that this is some destined meeting, which is exactly how the film plays the beat, then the question of how it did so is fair game as being important.
You know how you deal with not having an explanation for where it came from if you just want to throw that away? You don't have any of the characters ask. Just leave it be, and let the audience wonder. The moment was too hectic, things blew up with the First Order arriving and nobody ever got around to where exactly that lightsaber came from. Just don't give the characters a chance to ask the question you have no interest in asking. The writer/director/editor have 100% control of that. To prime the audience with "Another time" is absolutely a Chekhov's Gun misfire at that point.
Absolutely agree. As storytellers, they have to feel what information is important.. what things they can do to connect the old stories to the new ones. The lightsaber is afocal point of this story, yet it feels more shoehorned in than deriving organically from the story of Star Wars
"Chekhov's gun" doesn't require us to be given any explanation beyond what we were given. We were told that the story of how the lightsaber came to be in Maz's possession was for another time, and we were not told when that other time would be. In other words, we were promised that we wouldn't be given any further explanation, and we weren't.
Anyway, the principle of dramatic economy that "Chekhov's gun" signifies doesn't require us to have it explained. What it requires is only that the lightsaber, having been discovered in dramatic fashion, will be used in the part of the story that follows. The lightsaber most certainly was used, so the principle was satisfied.
That's not a Chekov's gun, any more than we need an explanation of "Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars." It's details, not a necessity.
The line you chose is one character talking to another who already knows what she is talking about. A real equivalent would be more like when Luke says, "You knew my father?" if Obi-Wan had said, "Yes. The reason I knew him is quite interesting actually, but I'll tell you about it some other time."
Except, Luke didn't.The line you chose is one character talking to another who already knows what she is talking about. A real equivalent would be more like when Luke says, "You knew my father?" if Obi-Wan had said, "Yes. The reason I knew him is quite interesting actually, but I'll tell you about it some other time."
Regardless, it doesn't necessitate an explanation. Would I prefer it? Sure, but it isn't necessary to my enjoyment of the film.
The lightsaber only serves the purpose of being the torch passed to the next generation, like it did in A New Hope. It’s a tie to the past and the key to the future. How Maz found it is unimportant to the story. Rey is supposed to take it and embrace her future as a Jedi. In the Hero’s Journey, it’s essentially the call to adventure. Rey even refuses the call as is standard to the Hero’s Journey. She answers the call by accepting it and fighting Kylo Ren.
How Maz acquired the lightsaber isn't important to the story of TFA, which is why she says that the story of how she acquired it is "for another time"; that line isn't a promise of more story, it's a dismissal of a narrative thread that we as an audience don't need to know about.
In principle, it's the same as cutting away from Han and Maz's conversation before he responds to her "who's the girl?" question.
In principle, it's the same as cutting away from Han and Maz's conversation before he responds to her "who's the girl?" question.
TFA barely qualifies as a sequel. People call it a soft reboot.. yet since all of the progress in terms of what the heroes did, and the heroes themselves and their arcs.. were basically ignored.. it's pretty much a full reboot..
It is? Why didn't someone tell me????
No, it's not a full reboot. It's following standard mythological tropes of the next generation having to face down evil, as evil is only defeated "for a time."
Calling it a reboot pretty much ignores the whole film and is a very surface-level criticism.
But, even if you treat it as a full reboot then where is the harm in enjoying (or ignoring) the ST? At this point, all the complaining about the ST is for the sake of complaining. There is enough variety of SW out there for everyone. Let's not rip this one apart just because it doesn't work for everyone.
Or, shall I go in to the Mandalorian thread and tear it apart. Because, that's where we are at,
