Anna Daniels
Here’s something I don’t think any of us expected: the now-unused Star Wars script from Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly sounds…good? Details from the script, which has the title Duel of the Fates, have leaked – and it sounds…good? Or, at the very least, it sounds very different than J.J. Abrams‘ The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, this is all subjective. What sounds potentially good on paper could’ve been a misfire once filmed. Here’s what you need to know.
What Happens in the Colin Trevorrow Star Wars Script?
First thing’s first: the script itself isn’t available for everyone. But it is out there, and details have leaked onto Reddit. Normally, we’re hesitant to treat a Reddit thread as a source – more often than not, such threads turn out to be bullshit. But /Film can confirm that this leak, and all of the details that come with it, are indeed legit.
So just what goes down in Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates? It’s worth noting that the script is dated December 16, 2016, almost a full two weeks before Carrie Fisher died. As a result, the late actress’ General Leia has a bigger part to play than what we ultimately got – something that can’t be blamed on Abrams and The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio.
In Duel, The First Order has found a way to severe communication between planets, because they really don’t want Luke Skywalker’s badass ghost-fight with Kylo Ren to inspire more rebellion. Here’s the opening crawl:
The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remain unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death.
Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems.
Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom …
From here, Duel of the Fates kicks-off on a journey that strives to end the story started in The Force Awakens and continued in The Last Jedi. And no, Palpatine and his skeleton fingers aren’t still alive and behind everything. That said, Kylo Ren does find an old hologram of the Emperor. As the Reddit thread linked above summarizes:
In Vader’s Temple, Kylo finds a Sith Holocron which reveals a hologram of Palpatine. Recording is for Vader. Palpatine has a contingency for Vader if Luke kills him. Vader is to take Luke to the Remnicore (?) System to see TOR VALUM, Master of Sith/Palpatine’s Teacher.
Kylo Ren remains the big bad of the piece, although Rey still strives to turn him back to the light. Kylo finds himself haunted by Luke’s ghost, who keeps trying to convince his former apprentice to resist the Dark Side once and for all – a notion Kylo scoffs at. At some point, Kylo’s face gets damaged – again – and “Mandalorian armor is smelted and is been applied to his face.”
Luke’s ghost also keeps appearing to Rey, who continues to train to be a Jedi while also being overwhelmed with self-doubt. It seems that Kylo Ren telling her that she’s descended from dead nobodies has really messed-up her mind and sapped her confidence. But Rey’s stand-alone nature is also part of her strength. During a conversation with Leia, the general says: “You’re not like my father or my brother. You’re new. Whatever happens, remember the force choose you Rey. You’re story isn’t written by anyone else.”
Beyond all this, the story has what you might expect: planet jumping, side missions, the works. Rose, Finn, R2, 3PO go off on a mission, Rey, Poe, Chewbacca go off on another mission. Leia turns to Lando and asks “if he will organize the smugglers and fight the First Order.” Finn starts “a citizens uprising on Coruscant around the First Order’s Citadel/Palace.” And at some point, Rey fights – and defeats – the Knights of Ren.
Before the story ends there’s one final twist: it turns out Kylo Ren killed Rey’s parents, having been ordered to do so by Snoke. A big fight ensues between Rey and Kylo in which the Force Ghosts of Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda all show up and try to turn Kylo from the Dark Side back to the Light. Sadly, it doesn’t work, and Kylo “Ben Solo” Ren dies. Or, as the script puts it, he’s “extinguished.” The Resistance triumphs, the First Order is finally defeated.
Duel of the Fates vs The Rise of Skywalker
While the events of Trevorrow’s script sound better than The Rise of Skywalker, they still have their own problems. Much like Rise, the story seems convoluted and even overly complicated at times. There’s still a reliance on MacGuffins – at one point, the Resistance is trying to find a Force Beacon to transmit to the galaxy. Still, based on what we can learn from all of this, it sounds like the characters we’ve grown to know over this new series have much more interesting things to do. Hell, even Rose gets to go on several missions instead of hanging out back at the base doing…nothing.
The element that might be most controversial here is the ending. There was a big push from fans to redeem Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. While Abrams and Terrio’s script eventually gets around to this, Trevorrow’s doesn’t. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you, I suppose. Personally, I was never much in the “redeem Ben Solo” camp. That said, I’m not against the idea either. However, I do think it’s a much better idea to have Kylo remain the big bad of the story up until the end. This new trilogy really did not need the Emperor to randomly show up at the end and say “Ha ha ha, I was behind the whole thing!”
I think the best possible version of this film lies somewhere between Trevorrow’s script and Abrams’ film. Keep Kylo the villain up until the very end, and then redeem him in some way – or at least have him see the light in some capacity.
All of this is speculation, though. While I certainly like most of the stuff Trevorrow came up with here, I’m not a huge fan of his other movies. His scripts for Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom both leave me cold and there’s a very real chance that had Disney and Lucasfilm stuck with this, it could’ve ended up being a disappointment.
Ultimately, we have to accept what we got. If you’re a fan of The Rise of Skywalker, you can take solace in knowing the “better” movie won out. If you’re not, well…you can look to the stars and dream about what could’ve been.
Cool Posts From Around the Web: Written by: Slash
