Welcome back to We Want Comics, our column exploring the world of licensed comics. Today we’re looking at last month’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the flawed final (for now) chapter of the Skywalker Saga, and the pieces that the expanded universe of comic books (and novels and games) will be picking up. If you’re here, you’ve probably seen the film, but if you haven’t, then be aware this post is full of spoilers.
The Emperor-in-exile
The Rise of Skywalker never explains its opening twist, that Darth Sidious survived his demise in Return of the Jedi and was puppeting Snoke’s strings, beyond vague hints that “unnatural” Sith secrets enabled his return to the land of the living. How exactly Palpatine survived his explosive demise at the hands of Darth Vader will undoubtedly be explored soon, but arguably more fascinating are the hooded Sith cultists on Exegol (called the Sith Eternal in the film’s Visual Dictionary), who facilitated his return: how long had they been there, tending to their master’s needs, covertly managing the First Order, and building their fleet of superweapons? Due to the Rule of Two, it’s an answer that’ll likely require a pre-Return of the Jedi setting, which brings us to…
The House of Palpatine
It’s probably the biggest question Star Wars fans had after Rise of Skywalker – who was Rey’s grandmother? Provided Sidious didn’t use the midi-chlorians to create his offspring, there was a woman, who has never been hinted at in previous Star Wars canon, who apparently loved Palpatine so much that she bore him a son after his disfigurement. Did she ever discover the extent of his depravity? Did she have children with him before, and was she even his first wife? After all, history of full of tyrants like the Emperor, with their mistresses and unacknowledged heirs – Sidious lived considerably longer than his apprentices, and his machinations and relationships could sustain as many series as Vader has had at Marvel.
Rey’s Parents
So onto Rey’s parents (played by Billy Howle and Jodie Comer), whom we know at least something about, even if we don’t know their names. Kylo Ren’s line that they “chose to be” nobodies to protect their daughter implies Rey’s father lived like a prince on the Imperial capital of Coruscant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean her mother also had an upper class upbringing. Ultimately their short, tragic lives are such a blank slate means that there’s so many potential twists and turns in their lives waiting to be uncovered: you have to wonder, did they even know his father was still alive? And why didn’t they turn to Luke or Leia for help?
Finn the Jedi
Enough about the past, let’s talk about the future. Unlike after Return of the Jedi‘s release, Lucasfilm will probably avoid going beyond Rise of Skywalker‘s events as much as possible, because George Lucas is no longer in charge, and so there’s no guarantee this is the last Skywalker movie (unless the company’s Story Group really wants to reboot the EU again). Regardless, we ought to have the loose end of Finn’s Force-sensitivity be addressed well before Episode X: he’ll presumably become (along with The Last Jedi‘s Broom Boy) Rey’s first apprentice, just as Luke trained Leia – it’ll be great to finally see him reveal his secret to her, and wield lightsabers together.
Poe and the Spice Runners of Kijimi
Rise of Skywalker introduced a new wrinkle in Poe Dameron’s backstory, establishing he fell for Keri Russell’s scoundrel Zorii Bliss while part of the Spice Runners of Kijimi. The Visual Dictionary states Poe joined the drug smugglers as an adolescent before realizing the error of his ways and returning home, so there’s not going to be much wiggle room for weaving that into Poe’s time as a New Republic pilot, but his (frankly alarming) act of teenage rebellion will still make for a dramatic miniseries.
Lando and Jannah
The story of Lando’s life since Return of the Jedi was largely removed from Rise of Skywalker, but basically, the Visual Dictionary reveals he had a daughter, who was among those kidnapped by the First Order to build their army, and that he accompanied Luke to Pasaana to find her. Whether or not Jannah is his daughter remains to be seen (she doesn’t even have the same accent), but for now Lando still has a reunion waiting in the wings, and based on their exchange at the end of the film, she’ll have a big role to play.
Continued belowThat’s How the Force Works?
I had a lot of Force-related questions coming out of Rise of Skywalker – Force ghosts can hold and manipulate objects now? We’re likely going to get a lot of convoluted explanations for how ghosts can appear all over the galaxy, yet aren’t able to stride into battle with the lightsabers they used while alive. Likewise, the confirmation that Force bonds can warp space and enable teleportation of objects felt almost story-breaking: it’s a good thing it’s such a rare occurrence in-universe really.
Meanwhile, the introduction of Force healing (developed in conjunction with The Mandalorian), was a wonderful, progressive idea on par with many of the ones in The Last Jedi, but why haven’t we seen it used before? Future Star Wars stories will presumably add so many more examples of these abilities in action that they’ll all stop feeling like outliers in the franchise, though hopefully not to the point they stop feeling unique.
With any luck, some of these topics will become projects within the next 12 months, and the novelizations will resolve some of the questions raised and more (like Nien Nunb’s survival). Which of these stories are you most keen to read about? How soon do you think Lucasfilm will reveal the secrets of Rey’s family? And how do you think Marvel could solve the quandary of doing an ongoing starring the sequel trilogy heroes? As always, be sure to give us your thoughts in the comments – and may the Force be with you, always.
