r/StarWars
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u/StoriesAndAudio • Feb 4, 2020

The Skywalker Saga = The Tragedy of Sheev Palpatine???
Over the past week, I watched all nine movies of the “Skywalker Saga” in order, and something occurred to me...

If you just watch the original trilogy, it’s the hero journey of Luke Skywalker. A boy becomes a man through confronting his father.

If you watch the prequels, and then the originals, the epic changes to the tragedy and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. A boy who is destined to have it all throws it away because of his ego, only to finally redeem himself by saving his son and the Galaxy.

If you watch all three trilogies, the epic changes to... the tragedy of Sheev Palpatine?? A Sith Lord tries multiple times to rule the galaxy, only to be foiled by his apprentices Darth Vader and Kylo Ren (and possibly also because of his over-reliance on planet-destroying weapons).

The sequels are beautifully-done movies, but watching them, I couldn’t figure out who the hero was. Perhaps it’s the whole ensemble cast concept, but it felt like they never landed on a single hero. Nominally, Rey is the hero, but what about Ben Solo’s journey? In The Last Jedi, I even started to think Finn’s arc was going to be significant. Or perhaps it was a continuation of Luke’s journey, as he makes peace with what happened to Ben Solo.

There’s no solid ground for any of these for me, except when you look at Palpatine. He’s the thread that unites the whole epic. In the sum of it, every arc in the saga, from Anakin to Luke to Rey to Ben, is a reaction to the struggle of Sheev Palpatine to unite the galaxy under his thumb. And just like in other movies about men who seek ultimate power (I’m thinking Scarface, The Godfather, The Wolf of Wall Street), those who reach for it all destroy their families and lose everything in the end.

The Skywalker Saga is indeed the Tragedy of Palpatine.